In Matthew 14:13, although Jesus was grieving over the death of John, He still spared time to minister to the crowd of people because He had great compassion for them all. Jesus turns to all who calls upon Him. This reveals the heart of God towards all who are hurting and crying out to Him for help. Unfortunately, many people are in need but do not call upon Him. From Hebrews 1:1-3, we read that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s nature. The new covenant is revealed through Jesus Christ Himself.
God is love (1 John 4:8). Love describes God. However, we have become confused about what love is today. If one does not know God, one will never come to the true knowledge of love, Today we have an inaccurate view of love. We get confused and mistake lust for love: ‘love gives, lust takes’. Lust disguised as love. Love is found in the knowledge of Christ and Christ is the ultimate expression of God’s nature. In John 3:16, Jesus has given His all at the cross to restore and heal. Pastor John continued to say that when one is in love “at the first sight”, it may just be an attraction. Love means to give 100% of oneself to the other party. This is what marriage is where one is in a covenantal commitment with the other. Even if one party is not perfect, the other will still love him or her unconditionally.
Jesus gives, delivers, heals and restores every person who comes to Him. In Matthew 4:23-24 and 9:35, Jesus taught at the synagogues, preached the Good News and healed all people of their diseases. Teaching and preaching precede healing because faith has to be raised before healing can take place. We need to be engaged (i.e., to take action) as we seek for healing in our lives. Faith comes from the hearing of the truth in God’s Word. It is important to know what is laying upon God’s heart and His purpose for you. It is the unique healing journey for the individual that is more important. When a person is sick, it is natural to desire healing. However, God wants more than just the healing of that person. He wants the person to be able to hear, trust and have faith in Him – to learn more about Him in the process of the healing. One can also discover something more about himself during the process of healing. For example, there could be spiritual roots like unforgiveness and resentment that have manifested in physical pain and God wants to heal those wounds.
In Luke 4:40, it was recorded that Jesus healed all the sick who were brought to him. Pastor John was once affected by severe pain and it is through this painful experience that he learnt about the ramification of Jesus’ redemptive work. Through his learning encounters, as his faith grew, the symptoms reduced. He has also witnessed numerous miraculous healing and knows that God has healed him.
With Matthew 12:15 and Luke 5:17, Jesus’ teaching lifted up the people’s faith and healed them all. This is God’s heartbeat. He has paid for everything so that we have access to Him by faith. Therefore, one can learn to grow in faith by believing in His power. There is no disease that Jesus cannot heal. In Mark 1:39-42, we need to remind ourselves everyday that God is willing to heal. We need to get His word into us and let His love heal and restore. We must be acquainted with the Word of God that Jesus heals and wants to make us whole (1 Peter 2:24). In Matthew 10:7-8, we are made whole to be an instrument of grace to help others – we are ALL in ‘full-time’ ministry to reach out to people around us (Isaiah 44).
Discussion Questions
1) In His ministry, Jesus taught, preached and healed even when he had just heard about the death of his cousin, John. This is because he had compassion for the crowd. What is one thing we can learn about Jesus from this? [10 min]
2) Ps John mentioned that the leper (Mark 1:39 – 42) doubted at first Jesus’ willingness to heal. Jesus proved him otherwise and healed him.
a. How is faith related to His love that restores and heals us? [5 min]
b. Read Hebrews 11. What can we learn about God’s promises of healing and restoration from our patriarchs in their faith journeys? [10 min]
3) Ps John shared about how God has healed him and enabled him to be His instrument of grace. Share one healing or restoration experience you have had and how it has built faith and your confidence to help others. How would you begin to be God’s instrument of grace through the healing you have received? [15 min]
