When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ. (Luke 4:40-41)

The Joy Of Healing

Medicine has developed in the long history of man to combat disease, offer relief from the maladies of the body and to understand the biology of the human frame. It has not always been an exact science and never will be a complete discipline where man will understand all the reasons for the causes of disease. From a Biblical perspective the answer is found in man’s expulsion from the garden and the tree of life. Disease is the consequence of disobedience ultimately from the choice of man to disobey the clear word of the Creator. However, God did not leave man without answers and endued men with the wisdom to unlock the secrets of the causes of illness in the science of medicine. From a modern view, the medicine of Jesus’ day was rather primitive. The gospels tell of a woman with an issue of blood had who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any showing how difficult it was for men to find answers and the plight of those who could never find relief. Natural causes rendered a cruel blow to many like the man with a withered hand, those born blind and the frightful diagnosis of leprosy. To say the least, disease was a plague inflicted on the masses with little concern for the station of life, economic outlook and age. And then a man from Nazareth came into the region of Galilee near the city of Capernaum and changed everything.

Jesus had returned to His home at Nazareth and found only hatred and contempt. Coming down to Capernaum, He healed a man possessed with an evil spirit and the report about Him went out into the regions of Galilee. Entering into the home of Peter, the Lord healed Peter’s mother-in-law who was sick with a high fever. Word began to spread and when the sun was setting, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. Luke does not say what the diseases were but one can only imagine the types of maladies the people suffered from that came to Jesus. A woman comes to Jesus with pain in her belly that burns with great intensity and she is healed. Blind men approach the Lord seeking their sight and with the touch of His hand, the Son of God gives them sight. Men and women with broken bones, shriveled limbs, and deformed bodies are restored whole as a little child. Cancers that are ravaging the body are taken away, tumors are dispelled, organs decaying made whole again and the lepers cleansed of the dreaded disease. When Jesus laid His hands upon the people they were healed immediately and totally. There was never a time to wait for the healing to come about. These people did not go away with a prescription to take for a time and find healing days, weeks or months later. When the hand of Jesus touched their body, they felt immediate relief. The pain of arthritis that crippled the body was taken away with a sudden rush of relief. Eyes dimmed with glaucoma were made clear as crystal. What the people felt was an abrupt and full healing. Whatever the disease and without exception, the joy of healing was felt by every person that came to Jesus. When they stood before the Son of God they were broken with the pain of disease. He touched them and brought them joy. Healing as had never been known before and that no man could ever understand took place that day when Jesus laid His hands on everyone that came to Him.

There is a greater disease than the bodily maladies of flesh. The disease of sin has done more to destroy lives than any plague, cancer or terminal illness. It destroys the joy and the happiness of life in its insidious destruction of the reason man was created. When God placed man in the garden He desired to dwell with Him and abide with Him as one. Sin took that happiness away and the sorrow and pain of sin came upon all men. All the solutions of men failed to remedy the disease of sin. Human wisdom made his condition worse. Seeking fulfillment in the pleasures of the flesh brought no joy. Elevating self as a god was defeated in the rumble of pride. Nothing could bring happiness to the plight of sin until the Son of God came to earth and laid His hands on the hearts of men. There is only one means of finding a cure for sin and that is from the hand of Jesus Christ. No man could heal every person with various diseases as Jesus did that day in Galilee. There is nothing man can do today that will bring happiness and joy to the soul of man but the blood of Jesus Christ. The healing of sin is the greatest message of joy. Burdened with the guilt of serving the prince of darkness there is no hope for man. Jesus brings relief in giving the soul of man eternal life through the forgiveness of sin. Think for a moment how wonderful it felt for the man and woman standing before Jesus who lived every day with intense pain and when the hand of Jesus touched them – their pain was gone – totally gone. What joy! How refreshing! And now think of how wonderful it feels to have the horror of God’s wrath removed in the waters of baptism when the Father washes away all sins and brings joy to the troubled heart. There is a greater promise that when the child of God confesses his sins, the hand of Jesus is faithful and just to forgive those sins and to cleanse the soul from all unrighteousness. Healing brings joy. Thank you, God, for your healing power that brings the eternal happiness of your divine grace to dwell in the heart of the saved. Joy.