Miracle-Working Power

Matthew 8:1-4 Jesus came down from the hill, and a large crowd followed him. Then a man sick with leprosy came to him. The man bowed down before Jesus and said, “Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want.” Jesus touched the man. He said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” Immediately the man was healed from his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened. But go and let the priest look at you. And offer the gift that Moses commanded for people who are made well. This will show everyone that you are healed.”

How often do we let a problem just continue to bubble along in our lives without ever even thinking to go to God and ask Him to intervene? You know what I’m talking about. Why do we do that?

Miracles these days seem to be few and far between. You know … powerful, obvious miracles in our lives. I wonder why that is. Has Jesus given up on miracles?

Or is it perhaps that we’ve become so comfortable in our day-to-day existence that we’ve stopped thinking we need miracles, and so we’ve stopped believing that Jesus actually performs miracles. I mean … come on … when was the last time that you actually went to Him to ask Him for a powerful, life-changing, gob-smacking miracle?

Matthew 8:1-4 Jesus came down from the hill, and a large crowd followed him. Then a man sick with leprosy came to him. The man bowed down before Jesus and said, “Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want.” Jesus touched the man. He said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” Immediately the man was healed from his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened. But go and let the priest look at you. And offer the gift that Moses commanded for people who are made well. This will show everyone that you are healed.”

I love that story. That leper was an outcast. He was sick, he was desperate, and He approached Jesus with an uncommon faith: Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want, he said.

This guy was taking a real risk. What he was doing was against the law. But Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” Now there’s a surprise.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.