People From All Over

Scripture:  Luke 6:17-19

17 When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. 19 Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone. (Luke 6:17-19 NLT)

When Jesus and his disciples came down from the mountain together they were surrounded by “the crowds”. People had come from as far south as Judea and Jerusalem, traveling on foot for three or four days to get to Jesus. People had come from as far north as Tyre and Sidon on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, traveling from Phoenicia and Syria, non-Jewish provinces, to get to Jesus.

They came because Jesus was preaching the Good News to the poor, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, setting people free from demonic oppression, and speaking of the arrival of a Kingdom where God ruled with peace and love and freedom from oppression. Jesus was giving them relief from their present needs, and hope for their future! It’s clear that they didn’t understand all his teaching, but the healing of diseases and the meeting of needs was immediate and real.

I thought about people and their needs, and even in our advanced society, where few people are actually starvation hungry, people are still hungry. And with our advanced, though not evenly distributed, medical care, people are still sick and there are still diseases medicine can’t heal. And as life gets more complex and expensive, affordability decreases for many, and people on the edge end up on the street. And we all need hope! Everyone needs hope that things will get better and everyone needs hope for a future when things don’t get better in the present.

I’m so privileged to be connected with churches who are representing Jesus well in addressing the needs I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Churches that are working together. Churches that are both resources to and influencers of a variety of agencies, both government and private, that exist to address these needs. Let’s do what we can to represent the heart of Jesus in our communities!

Prayer:

Father, May we, like Jesus, be moved with compassion when we see the people who are sick, hungry, homeless, and oppressed. May we preach Good News to the poor and bring hope to the discouraged. May we do what we can in Jesus’ Name!