Day 81

Numbers 33:40‐35:34; Luke 5:12‐28; Psalm 65:1‐13; Proverbs 11:23

Healing From Jesus

In the reading from Luke 5, we see that Jesus heals many people as the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal. There are two things that come to mind as I studied these verses. First, how wonderful it was that the paralyzed man had friends with such great faith they were willing to do anything to help him get healed, even carry the litter onto the roof, dig a hole in it, and lower him down before Jesus. They all had absolute faith that this would work. This reminds us that we all are called to live in community. Wonderful miracles happen when the community comes together to help, share our faith, love and hope with each other. God intends for us to live in community and display His love by loving each other. This act of love and faith surely demonstrates how God honors this kind of love and faith.

The second thing that is demonstrated seems to be that no matter who you are and how much good you do, there will always be a critic. You didn’t do it in the right way or on the right day. Jesus is criticized for saying that this man’s sins are forgiven. He is accused of blasphemy as He demonstrates mercy and forgiveness. The educated rulers missed the point that He was also demonstrating that He is God. As Psalm 65:3 says, “We were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions.”

The Rev. Patricia Acker