As I am preaching through the life of Jesus we are now in the early parts of the gospels where Jesus is healing people and casting out demons. Why is he doing this? Because Jesus’ basic, central message is: “The kingdom of God is near.” Which means, Jesus shows that the Real King is here by demonstrating his authority over diseases and the demonic.
For this coming Sunday I will preach out of Mark 1:40-45, where a leper comes up and begs Jesus to heal him. The leper says to Jesus, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Yes says “I am willing.”
I will probably address, in this coming message, the question of the willingness of Jesus to heal. If someone comes this Sunday to be healed, is Jesus willing to do it? We have and are seeing healings take place in our church. But why is not everyone being healed? For one response to this, see Francis MacNutt’s article here. Francis and Judith were with us at a conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin a few years ago. I admire their gentle approach to healing that understands the issue of authority in a right, biblical way.
