Miraculous healing...Miraculous intervention...Miraculous Provision.
We have all had instances in our lives where we have heard of experiences people have had related to a "miraculous" event. Events in which a person seems to have been healed of a serious disease, or there has been a Divine intervention that circumvented a potential disaster, or maybe even the amazing provision of material things, food, vehicles, etc...that was unexpected and difficult to explain. Maybe it actually happened to us or to someone extremely close to us. How did you react? How did you feel? What was your experience? Was it real? Did it come from God? Was it just a coincidence of circumstances? Let's take a look at a story that was real...that was miraculous...that we have most likely heard or read many times. But this time let's look closer!
In Matthew Chapter 9 we find Jesus traveling by boat to Capernaum a small city of 1500 located on the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee. When He left the boat and entered the city some people were bringing to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Jesus healed the paralytic with the words, "Take courage, My son, your sins are forgiven."
It is important to note that this was a small town, Jesus had left the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee to get here and it is most obvious that they knew He was coming. Word had gotten out.Why? In Chapter 8 we see that before he got into the boat, He was asked to leave because he had cast demons out of two men and sent them into a herd of swine. Some herdsmen ran away and told everyone in the city everything that they saw and the people came to Jesus and asked Him to leave. Word got out and beat Jesus to Capernaum.
It is in Capernaum that Matthew was called to "Follow Me" as well as Peter, James, Andrew and John. This wasn't Jesus' first visit to Capernaum. In Matthew Chapter 4 we see that He left Nazareth after he heard that John the Baptist was taken into custody, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Many had heard of this man Jesus..He had been in Capernaum before and this small population of people had witnessed or heard of His miraculous power.
Well let's look at a small but significant story. In Chapter 9 verse 18 we read that as Jesus was teaching His Disciples, a synagogue official came before Him, bowed and told Jesus that his daughter had just died. The official then asked Jesus to come with him to lay His hands on her and make her come alive. So Jesus rose and began to follow him to his home. As Jesus was walking and most likely working His way through a crowd a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up from behind Him touching the fringe of His tunic simply because she believed that if she just touched his garment she would be healed. Jesus turned and said to her, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." And at once the woman was made well.
Ok, so now you may be asking, yeah so what. I've heard that story, and that is nice. But wait, there is more to this story. This woman was "unclean" and had been unclean for twelve years. EVERYONE in Capernaum knew she was unclean and according to Levitical Law (Leviticus 15:19-33) she was to be shunned until she was made clean. For this woman it was total torment for twelve years and everyone in that town knew it, and avoided her like a plague. Now what is truly amazing is that we do not hear from anyone at this time that Jesus was persecuted, belittled, or chastised for this particular healing of this particular woman, who by touching His clothing had caused Him to be unclean according to the Law in Leviticus.
Well...put yourself in this town at this time. Close your eyes. Stay quiet. Put yourself in this story in every way. Use every sense. What do you see? What do you smell? What are you hearing? What are you physically sensing? You saw this and the other miracles happen. . Experience every moment. Where are you standing? How close are you to Jesus? What is it like to be there? What are you feeling?
Our faith becomes strong when we become an Eager Participant in God's Word. When His Word becomes real to us. When we abandon the role of a bystander, by activating our senses to become a part of the experience we are reading about. We will if we imagine ourselves as participants in God's Word become intimate with the teaching of God no matter where we are reading in His Word. Become the author, become the crowd, become the disciple, and you will become an eager participant as God's Word engulfs your life in a new and exciting way!
