Jesus Met A Man

ByJim Stephens

Scripture: Luke 5:12-16

12 In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” 13 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 14 Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone what had happened. He said, “Go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.” 15 But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. (Luke 5:12-16 NLT)

What man? Which village? Jesus was preaching throughout the province of Galilee. I wonder which village this miracle happened in? Jesus was on a mission from God – a mission to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the sick, to deliver the oppressed, to declare, demonstrate, and introduce the Kingdom of God. He must have had some sort of strategic plan to travel among the towns and villages of Galilee, the area east of the Jordan, then Judea, and even to make a trip or two into Samaria. Or did he?

Most of the stuff that is written in the gospels is not about a plan or a strategy, it’s about Jesus’ interactions with individuals and groups of people he encountered on the journey. The gospels record how Jesus responded to seemingly incidental encounters with people on the road or in homes or in public places as he went about living life. These “incidental” encounters became key elements in the Gospel story!

But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.Jesus spoke the words he heard the Father speak and he did the deeds he saw the Father do. He prayed daily and received revelation from his Father about what to do, where to go, and when to go. Glenda Merrill once told me that the key to her archery skill is “staying in the now.” I think Jesus had an eye on the Past (all that the prophets had spoken), an eye on the Future (the cross, the tomb, the eternal kingdom), but was fully present In the Now.

I want to be a responsible steward of time, talents, and resources and also be spirit-led, able to drop everything to respond to an individual need. 

Prayer:

Father, Help me to learn to live well in the tension between strategy and spontaneity, learning from the past, planning for the future, and functioning fully in the present moment. Help me to live today according to your plan and be led by your Spirit. Amen.