Jesus Heals

Scripture:  Matthew 14:34-36 (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

34 After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 When the people recognized Jesus, the news of his arrival spread quickly throughout the whole area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed. 36 They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed. (Matthew 14:34–36 NLT)

The day before, Jesus had learned that his cousin John the Baptist had been murdered by Herod. He took his disciples across the lake for time to process the awful news, to grieve, to pray, and to rest. When they landed, crowds were there and Jesus compassionately healed all the sick among them. Then the crowds were hungry and Jesus and his disciples fed 5000 men, plus women and children. Then Jesus sent everyone away: the crowds to their homes, and his disciples back across the lake in the boat. Then he went into the hills to pray. After a few hours of prayer and solitude, Jesus caught up with his storm-tossed friends, took a walk on the water with Peter, and calmed the storm. They reached land and the news spread. Soon Jesus was being touched and healing and pouring himself out for others. Again.

There’s a lot of emphasis on self-care in our culture at present. It’s a good response to an overemphasis on busyness and trying to get everything done and all sorts of extremes in an effort to be responsible and productive. We tended to measure not only our worth but others’ worth by how busy we were, how full the calendar was, and how long it took to get an appointment with someone. Not long ago being a “workaholic” was a sort of badge of honor.

I’m glad that’s changing! I’m glad we’re adjusting our values and priorities and making sure we do allow time for rest, for relationships, and for re-charging ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In the midst of setting boundaries and emphasizing self-care, I’d like to give a shout out for being moved with compassion, for doing what needs to be done, and for living in the tension of giving ourselves generously and recklessly in service to God!

Prayer:

Father, Thanks for the wisdom of self-care and the passion of self-giving. We’re not looking for balance so much as for your careful guidance to know where the guard rails are. Holy Spirit, please teach us to live well in the seasons of compassionate, demanding service and restful, relational, refreshing. Amen.