The King Has Come - Week 7

When we face illness, pain, or physical suffering, we're confronted with profound questions about God's power and compassion. Through three healing accounts from Matthew 8 and 9, we discover a transformative truth: the answer to our suffering isn't found by staring at sickness, but by observing the healer. We encounter Jesus healing a man with an isolating skin disease, Peter's mother-in-law with a fever, and a paralyzed man—representing the temporary, the ordinary, and the permanent spectrum of human affliction. What stands out isn't a formula for healing, but three essential realities: Jesus heals, Jesus cares, and Jesus forgives. The man with leprosy hadn't experienced human touch in weeks or months, yet Jesus reached out and touched him—a profound reminder that Jesus doesn't keep his distance from our pain. When we doubt whether God truly cares about us personally, we must remember that Jesus is close enough to touch, willing to wrap his arms around us in our darkest moments. The most powerful revelation comes when Jesus tells the paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven before commanding him to walk, revealing that spiritual sickness is even more deadly than physical disease. Sin is the terminal condition of the soul, and while Jesus may or may not heal our bodies according to his perfect will, he absolutely will heal our souls when we trust him. Our frailty reminds us of our mortality and our desperate need for a healer who isn't infected by the same disease. So what do we do with sick? We bring it to Jesus—both our physical pain and our spiritual brokenness—trusting that he cares deeply, can possibly heal our bodies, but will definitely heal our souls.