Hi, Friends.

As we continue to reflect together over this Advent season on Jesus, we have been focusing on the wonderful gifts that He loves to give us.

In the first week of Advent, we thought about the gift of faith—important because it is the gift by which we unwrap all the other gifts He wants to impart to us!

Last week we reflected on the gift of service—the gift that releases us to use and enjoy all the gifts that Jesus wants us to receive.

This week I would like us to reflect together on the gift of healing. 

More than any other gift, other than perhaps the gift of salvation, healing is the gift that reveals who Jesus is and what He is like.

Even in the Old Testament, healing is revealed to be an intrinsic part of God’s nature. He reveals Himself as Jehovah Rapha, "I am the Lord who Heals You" in Exodus 15:26 as the people of Israel cross the desert to escape Egypt. And in Psalm 103:1-5 we read: "Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s." 

When Jesus was walking on the earth, He spent a LOT of time healing people, and alongside His amazing teaching, this was one of the main things that drew huge crowds of people to Him. In Luke 6: 17-19, we read: "He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all."

The thing about the way that Jesus healed people was that it was so holistic. He did not heal only physical injuries and sickness, but also emotional brokenness, sin addiction, social dysfunction and alienation, demon possession, and mental illness—and in some instances, even death. Everyone who intentionally spent time with Him seemed to get healed in one way or another. There are so many examples of Jesus healing people:

• The woman with the issue of blood (Luke 8:43-48) who received healing from just touching Him. She was healed of both the medical condition and the ritual uncleanliness that it caused.
• The paralytic man (Mark 2:1-12) received forgiveness of sins and then also physical healing.
• The woman at the well (John 4:1-42) was healed of shame and social and spiritual brokenness
• Mary Magdalene was delivered of seven demons (Luke 8:2) before becoming one of Jesus’s closest disciples and supporting him financially.
• The man with the withered hand (Mark 3:1-6) was healed, even though all the religious authorities were accusing Jesus of breaking the law by working on the Sabbath.
• The leper who returned to thank Jesus (Luke 17:11-19) was healed despite being a Samaritan.
• Blind Bartimaeus was healed (Mark 10: 46-52), even though the crowds told him to be quiet and stop bothering Jesus.

One thing these people had in common was that they asked Jesus for healing. Whether it was the woman at the well asking for the living water or Bartimaeus shouting over the crowds, they humbled themselves and asked.

As He came to the time of the crucifixion and then the ascension, Jesus made it clear that He was passing this gift of healing on to His people. In John 14:12, He said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

This means that we all have a call to extend the healing of Jesus to others, and that we can expect Him to back us up! It also means that as we recognize our own need for healing, we need to be humble enough to ask each other.

When was the last time you asked a brother or sister in Christ to pray for you for healing from something emotional, spiritual, relational or physical? Will you humble yourself and ask someone to pray for you?

Will you step out and pray for others? Will we invite others into our family and community so that they can experience the healing that comes from spending time in Jesus’s presence with us?

Advent Blessings,

Paul Maconochie
Uptick Leader