Luke 5:12-28 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

 While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ¹³ And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

¹⁷ One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. ¹⁸ And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. ¹⁹ But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” ²² But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” ²⁵ Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. ²⁶ They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

²⁷ After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” ²⁸ And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

The man covered with leprosy implored Jesus saying: “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” When we pray for situations that require a miracle we often include those same words. We pray if it is Your will, or Your will be done and it is right that we should pray asking God according to His will. God after all is sovereign and we don’t know and can’t see the fullness of His plan. Jesus Himself, just before He was crucified, prayed: "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42) Jesus Himself also taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.” So of course we always want to pray according to God’s will, anything else pits us against Him which is foolishness at best and rebellious at worst.

Like the leper, we know that God is able, He created the heavens and the earth and everything on the earth including us. So the question becomes how do we balance submitting to God’s will with acting and asking in faith according to Jesus instruction:  ^“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” (Mark 11:24)     "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:21-22) Is it possible that at times we include the words if it is Your will, not truly in submission to God’s will, but rather so that we have an out, an explanation when we don’t receive what we ask for?

I don’t have the answer for every situation or circumstance. In truth the reason I ask that question is not that I am questioning you, but that I am questioning me. Here are a few things that I believe about healing, miracles and God’s will. First of all they are for today, God has not gone out of the business of doing miracles. If we look around ourselves at the things that happen every day, we will begin to see God’s miraculous intervention in our lives and the lives of others. I believe the second part of today’s text also reveals something to us about healing and miracles. It says:  ^“One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.”   There are two parts of the revelation. First the power of God is often accompanied by the teaching and preaching of the word of God. Second there is power in the presence of God. The friends of the lame man recognized that, the text says: and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. ¹⁹ But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

Here is where it becomes difficult to express all that God has given and revealed about healing and miracles. Let’s begin with the fact that in the case of the lame man and many other times throughout scripture, Jesus equated, even prioritized salvation, the forgiveness of sins with healing. This is not to say that we should look at physical impairments, sickness and disease as a result of or punishment for sin. It is simply that the eternal condition of our souls takes precedent, is a priority over the temporary condition of our bodies. Next let’s look at the fact that Jesus main focus in ministry was to teach and preach. He took the time to interact with people, building relationships, loving, serving and providing for their needs, but the focus of His ministry was to preach and share the good news of the kingdom of God. The miracles followed the teaching and preaching, the miracles were evidence of and confirmation of the truth of God’s word and the identity of who Jesus was and is.

God’s word also plays two other vital parts in healing and miracles, both then, in Jesus day and now in ours. First, God’s word builds our faith. When we hear the promises of God and when we hear the testimony of the great and miraculous things He has done, our faith is increased. We begin to see and believe that: "What is impossible with man is possible with God." (Luke 18:27) As our faith in God and His word increases, we begin to believe what Jesus said:  “I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”    We don’t need big faith, we need faith in God and His word. That is the second thing that teaching, preaching, sharing, studying and meditating on God’s word does for us. It reveals God’s will. God’s word is filled with His promises for protection, provision and healing for His people. So the word of God both increases our faith and reveals His will.

Finally, what I believe is that there is healing in the presence of God and Jesus. God told Moses: “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”(Exodus 33:20) Sinful man cannot enter into and see the face of God. In Leviticus 21:21, we see rules regarding the priests:  No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God.    So not only could no one in sin, but also no one with sickness, deformity or disease could enter God’s presence. The good news for us is that was before Jesus. It was before Jesus came and paid the price for all our sin. We are now told to: come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Because of the finished work of the cross we are no longer seen as sinful but righteous in Christ. The finished work of the cross also did something else for us. Isaiah 53:5 speaks prophetically about the now finished work of the cross, it says:  He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.    Because of the finished work of the cross, we are both forgiven and whole in God’s sight. When we go boldly to the throne of grace, or when we like the friends of the lame man, lift others there through our prayers and intercession, we go to a place where the work is already finished.

When we pray Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, what we are really praying is that the realities of heaven will be manifested here on earth. That the circumstances will come into alignment with the will of God, revealed in His word. That’s what a miracle is, it is the realities of heaven here on earth.

Heavenly Father, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, through the finished work of the cross, in the name of Jesus, the name above every name, the only name by which men can be saved, redeemed, reconciled and restored, I pray.   Amen.