As a Testimony

04/21/2016

Matthew 8.4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Whenever I read the Old Testament and read Leviticus 13 and 14, I cringe. These two chapters have to do with various diseases of the skin, and frankly, I find them gross. Yellow hair, reddish skin, white spots – yuck! Having to walk around in rotten clothing with a veil over one’s face, crying out: Unclean! Unclean! – I mean, really! But that’s the way it was, and that’s what they did. Sacrificing pigeons and doves…

The upside of all this was it was prescribed curative for such conditions. (Now, I admit, I’ve always wanted to see a little superstition here as well). But it was what it was, and the cure was bound to the gift; and God’s promise was the healing would take place according to the conditions met. It always sounds weird to me until I read Matthew 8: See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. Jesus said that. Jesus, God, said that; and Jesus, God, healed the man.

I think the man believed, but couldn’t get within shouting distance of the priest. No matter his yelling Unclean! Unclean! he couldn’t get into the priest to even get looked at. Sounds like modern medicine and preexisting conditions! But the man believed there was a cure and he went to the only place he thought he could find one: to Jesus. And Jesus healed the man as an object lesson to those who’d decided that healing wasn’t for today. Jesus, God, healed the man. The only place real healing takes place is in the presence of the Healer: Jehovah Rapha – God, my Healer.

We (many of us) accept (or just put up with) sickness and disease for what it is: a part of the human experience. Death has invaded earth and there is no doubting that. But, remarkably, there is relief, no matter one’s preexisting condition: by his wounds, we are healed (Isaiah 53.5). Was that just for the Jews? Was that just for back then? Or is God still in the healing business today? Does it require pigeons?

Does healing only occur for the spiritual elites? Or does a man with a crushingly humiliating skin condition have a place to go with his voice hoarse from crying out: Unclean! Unclean!? It all depends on belief, and what God has said.

Healing is not a validation of who God is or what He does. Healing is not a validation of faith. Healing is not only for those who believe in such a way that merits favor from God. Healing is simply bringing to God this issues we have and asking (believing) Him to help us with them by providing solutions, answers, and cures. Nothing magical. Nothing mystical. Just faith in God our Healer.

Jesus not only healed the man but was attempting to heal a nation: “… offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” God was working through the Mosaic Law to the people He loved. He is also working today apart from the Mosaic Law to help the people He loves. All we need do is ask. 

Father, You are working in the lives of people today to bring healing and help. Your healing may not save us from physical death, but it sure will make our present lives a little more bearable. Father, may I believe anew that You are the Healer, and You do so as a testimony to those who can’t accept Your grace and provision. Lord, heal me. Be gracious! Amen.