The power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.

Luke 5:12-28 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ¹³ And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

¹⁷ One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. ¹⁸ And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. ¹⁹ But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” ²² But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” ²⁵ Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. ²⁶ They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

²⁷ After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” ²⁸ And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

In today’s text it says:  One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.   For me, the beauty and power of this account is not only that Jesus has the authority to forgive sin and heal. It is not that neither one is too hard for Him. In fact, when He was on the cross, in John 19:30, He said: “It is finished!”  Neither healing nor forgiveness is too difficult for Him because He has already fully accomplished both in the finished work of the cross.

The marvelous thing about this account is that it is a picture of what happens when we intercede for others. First, we recognize that in His presence there is power to perform healing. In truth, in His presence, in the heavenly realm, there is no sickness or sin. Knowing that those in need are not able to get to His presence by themselves, rather than lowering them through the roof as they did in the text, we lift them up to Him in the heavenly realm. Jesus then, seeing our faith, responds with the authority of the finished work of the cross. Sins are forgiven and sickness, disease and infirmities are healed. That’s the reality; the manifestation of the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray: ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’  Miracles are simply the circumstances of earth coming in to alignment with the realities of heaven; with the finished work of the cross.

Today’s text began with another account of healing saying: While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.   We, like the man with leprosy, should know that the Lord is able. As Jeremiah 32:17 says, ‘Oh, Lord GOD! Behold, You Yourself have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,’ so we should believe.  Does that mean then that when we do not see the answer to our prayers; when we do not experience the realities of the kingdom of heaven on earth, that it is because it is not His will? Not necessarily. We need to recognize that what psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 say is true:  A thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. - Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. God is not subject to or limited by finite time. What we are seeking to be done, He sees as already finished according to His will. We need to trust Him and His time.

In Psalm 37, the psalmist says:  … Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it… Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him… those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land… The Lord knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever. They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have abundance… The steps of a man are established by the Lord, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing. Depart from evil and do good, So you will abide forever. For the Lord loves justice And does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever… The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever…  Wait for the Lord and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land… the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble.  The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.   Amen.   Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit as I delight in You and dwell in Your presence, may I see the finished work of the cross manifested in the circumstances on earth. May I see here and now, Your kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen.