Mark 1:29-34 (NIV): As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
It never mattered what the problem was when people came to Jesus to be healed. He never had to diagnose the illness in order to cure it. Whether it was a fever, like Simon’s mother-in-law had, or simply the “many kinds of diseases” that the people had when they were brought to Him that evening, it didn’t matter at all. Jesus simply healed them.
The reason that it didn’t matter what the people had was that when Jesus touched them or spoke the word of healing to them He didn’t use some kind of magical incantation or spell that had to be tailored to the specific disease. He simply brought His wholeness into contact with whatever unwholeness existed in the person, and the wholeness that was working and flowing through Him repaired whatever damage had been done by the disease. Fevers left, lameness was repaired, even leprosy was driven out, replaced by health and wholeness. And Jesus never had to worry about catching whatever disease the person had, because His wholeness was not a static thing that would drain out of Him, leaving Him open and vulnerable. Wholeness flowed through Him, like streams of living water, washing clean whatever He touched. He could touch lepers with impunity, knowing that they would become clean without ever making Him unclean. He very wholeness of God working through Him simply made them whole in an instant.
We see the same dynamic working through Jesus’ disciples and apostles. They spent little, if any, time diagnosing the problem. They simply saw a need for healing (a fever, lameness, even death!), and brought God’s wholeness flowing through them into contact with the brokenness and damage, and it was healed on the spot. Of course they realized that they did not have any of this wholeness in them to heal people on their own. It was only available to them because God’s Holy Spirit dwelt in them. But when confronted by brokenness, and prompted by God’s leading, they did not hesitate. And people were healed.
Father, thank You for this truth. Forgive us for allowing ourselves to get so wrapped around the axle, thinking that we have to have so much information before we can follow Your promptings to bring healing and wholeness to broken and diseased bodies, minds, and souls; feeling that some things are beyond Your ability or willingness to heal. (I mean, if even death was able to be healed by Jesus and His followers, nothing should be too hard!) Father, help us to stay closely connected to You, obedient and faithful in every way, so that Your wholeness, Your healing power, can flow through us into the sick an broken lives all around us. Use us to continue Your work of healing bodies, minds, hearts, and souls in our world today. Amen.