Words of Healing (blog)

Countless people came to Jesus, hoping and then believing that he could free them from their diseases and demons.  People "from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon," followed him, crowded around him, pressed in on him and "tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all" (Luke 6:17, 19).How, in all of this commotion, did they quiet themselves long enough to hear Jesus teach?I'm picturing a swelling crowd all around Jesus, on the grassy slope where he gave his Sermon on the Mount, as they lean in and wait silently for him to speak..."Blessed are the poor in spirit..." (Matthew 5:3), he began.I wonder, did Jesus extend his hands out to the crowd as he said this?  These were the poor in spirit, these people who had come to him, bruised and broken, desperate for some form of deliverance.Jesus called them blessed, and he also called them to be salt and light in the world (5:13-16).  He talked about the right way and the wrong way to live, warning them of the consequences of sin.  He uncovered the true and often hidden nature of sin for them, in detail, which I'm guessing made that still, silent crowd squirm."...anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement," (5:22) he said on the topic of murder, and "anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (5:28).  Jesus told them to give freely to all who asked of them (5:42), and to love their enemies and pray for them (5:44)."Do not judge, or you too will be judged," he warned, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged..." (7:1).I'm trying to picture how the people responded after hearing all of this (and how I would respond!).  Were they offended at his teachings?  Or did they despair, wondering (as Jesus' own disciples once had), "Who then can be saved?" (Mark 10:26).Actually, the people were "amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law" (Matthew 7:28-9).It must have been clear to the crowd that Jesus knew them, intimately.  He knew, in ways no one else ever had, that they were sinners.  He knew more about them than they knew about themselves!  And yet he forgave and healed them.  Jesus saw the extent of their sin, and now they saw it too.  He didn't just want them to see it, but to also know and appreciate how much they were being forgiven.  Jesus knew and yet still cared deeply for this crowd of people, and because of that love even his words of warning had power to heal and free them.Jesus had not come to condemn these people, but to save them (John 3:17).He never exposed the sins of anyone who came to him for healing.  To the paralytic he said, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven" (Matthew 9:2), yet we never learn what the man's sins were because Jesus never spoke of them to the crowd gathered.Jesus came to expose sin, not sinners.I see this so clearly in how he dealt with the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).  The teachers of the law had exposed her to a crowd of people, shaming her for her sin, but Jesus forgave her.  And the crowd, ready to throw rocks at the woman?  Jesus never spoke a word about their sins either, though I can picture him catching their eyes and nodding knowingly at them as, one by one, they lowered their arms and left the scene.Jesus spoke words of healing, for all who would receive them.He came to expose sin to sinners - to drag it out into the open so that they could see it clearly, recognize it in themselves and be set free from it.  Jesus came to call people to repentance so that they could be forgiven and changed.  And, with the authority given him by God, Jesus came to suffer and die for the sins of all people, on the Cross, so that we can now be forgiven and set free from sin (and death) eternally."When he saw the crowds," Jesus "had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36).  Jesus came to be their Shepherd (John 10:11).  He "took the children in his arms" (Mark 10:16), and "took the blind man by the hand" (Mark 8:23).  He came to share the truth and a meal with people (Mark 2:15).  His heart "went out" to them (Luke 7:13).Jesus came to weep with people (John 11:35).Do you see what all of this means?  Knowing in our hearts that Jesus is not against us, but is for us, changes everything!  It changes the way we hear his Word to us, as we read it in our Bibles and as we listen to our pastors preach it.  We are the poor in spirit gathered around Jesus, sinners coming to him desperate for deliverance.  His words help us to see the truth and the full extent of our sin and suffering, so that we can repent of it sincerely and deeply, receive forgiveness and healing, and be set free to follow him, to practice living the way God intended us to.Jesus' love for us changes everything.It changes our reason for going out into the world.  We don't go to expose or condemn people, but to love them so that they might also be saved by Jesus.  We go to hold their hands and take them in our arms, to share the truth and a meal with them.  We go to help them see as we have seen.  Sometimes we weep with them.  We go to tell them about how Jesus' love has changed everything for us.We go to give them hope and, just look around, right now that's desperately needed.