Read Matthew 8 – Life with Jesus is unique to the individual. Our chapter gives us great details on the healing of 5 specific people from very different walks of life; all healed by Jesus in different ways. Beloved, may this remind you that you aren’t like anyone else. Jesus loves you and wants to care for you uniquely and specifically and all that is needed on your part is faith.
Verse :3 is so loving, the first thing Jesus did to heal the leper was touch him. This man would have been such an outcast. It may have been years since he felt human touch, and Jesus touched him and commanded, “Be clean!” And the man was healed of his leprosy. Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone, but to show himself to the priest and offer the gift commanded by the law. This would have restored the man within society, healing him emotionally after the years of living “unclean”. Beloved, Jesus never heals ‘just a little’. Jesus restored this man’s life on every level with this short encounter.
Jesus notes that not everyone is ready to follow him with the examples of the teacher of law, the man who wanted to bury his father first (incidentally, this was an expression that the man was not ready yet to follow Jesus. His father may have been years or even decades away from death), and even the entire town of Gadarenes, who pleaded with Jesus to leave in response to his healing the two demon possessed men.
As you read through these accounts of Jesus, ask yourself which situation is closest to your heart. Are you ready to trust Jesus with every aspect of your life? Is there a need you are holding back from him? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you in Matthew 8?
Judy in the Sky 