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The Scriptorium

Healing Touch, Healing Word

We need both. Luke 4.40, 41

Luke 4: Part 2 (4)

Pray Psalm 66.1-4.
Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God,
“How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.”
Selah

Sing Psalm 66.1-4.
(Regent Square: Angels from the Realms of Glory)
Shout for joy to God, all people, sing the glory of His Name!
Give Him glorious praise and say, “How great Your pow’r and great Your fame!
All the earth shall worship gladly as they praise Your glorious Name!”

Read Luke 4.31-41; meditate on verses 40, 41.


Preparation

1. What did Jesus continue doing in Simon Peter’s house?

2. How did the demons respond to Him?

Meditation
Those who “had any that were sick” knew where to come. They brought their loved ones to Jesus. They came to Jesus out of their own afflictions. They understood just enough to believe that in Him they would find relief, help, wellness, and healing. And they were not disappointed. We note here that Jesus “laid His hands on every one of them” so that they were healed by His touch (v. 40). What an indescribable touch that must have been! Suddenly, as palms rested upon them, fevers fled, dysentery departed, migraines migrated elsewhere, cancers were cancelled, and wellness, wholeness, health, and peace settled on all who knew that touch.

We need this touch every day to lift the burdens of our sin and revive us for our day’s service (v. 39). Jesus will touch us by His Word and Spirit, but we must come to Him seeking forgiveness, renewal, mercy, and grace for our time of need.

Why were the demons confessing Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God!”? I can think of two reasons. First, they were terrified and covering their bases. By now they knew their master had been bound and that Jesus owned him. Confessing Jesus seemed the better path, perhaps, than continuing to resist. As if. Second, because they were demons, their work was to deceive, mislead, confuse, or subvert. Would you want to confess Jesus as the Messiah if that meant you were in good company with demons? But that ploy would not work. Jesus simply shut their mouths with the same muzzle He’d already clapped on the devil.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
In Laguna Beach, California, there is a yearly production called the Pageant of the Masters, in which a famous painting is reproduced using real people and other objects to complete the masterpiece.

The scene in Capernaum is reproduced for us in the same fashion. The tableau is set in such a way that we can watch with our imaginations, remember what we see, and be comforted and encouraged by it. “When the sun was setting…” (Lk. 4.40). It was beginning to get dark and time for people to be going home. But these people had somewhere else to go after they got their sick family members. They were going to where Jesus was. Their deepest desire was to be home with Him. Wherever He happened to be. And who wouldn’t want to be where He was? He was touching people at their point of need, He was loving them, He was forgiving their sins, and He was rebuking all the things that troubled them. Can you see it? Do you also want to be there, in this picture with Him?

It is good for us to want to be with Him, because, amazingly, He wants this too. Hear what He said to His Father about us: “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them…Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (Jn. 17.9, 10, 17).

Each one of us who belong to Him has been touched by Him for salvation. He has rebuked the demons in our past life and has called us to new life in Him. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine” (Is. 43.1). We are in His tableau. We are part of His masterpiece.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Shackled by a heavy burden ‘neath a load of guilt and shame,
Then the hand of Jesus touched me and now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, oh, He touched me, and oh, the joy that floods my soul.
Something happened, and now I know, He touched me, and made me whole.”
(Schafer/Levin)

For reflection
1. How do you experience the touch of Jesus in your walk with Him?

2. What special needs or concerns are on your heart these days? Take them to Jesus and ask Him to touch you with His grace.

3. Jesus heals and renews us by His Word. How should this encourage us in our daily time in Scripture?

The devils confessed him in hope thereby to bring him into suspicion with the multitude. Therefore, Christ forbade them to testify concerning him. The English Annotations (1645, 1651, 1657), Annotations upon the Gospel According to St. Luke 4:41.9

Pray Psalm 66.5-9.
How have you experienced the “great and awesome” love of Jesus? Praise Him for His salvation. Ask Him to lead you to someone today whom you can encourage in the faith or talk with about Jesus.

Sing Psalm 66.5-9.
(
Regent Square: Angels from the Realms of Glory)
Great and awesome is our Savior in the works which He has done.
He the sea and river dried to let His people cross as one.
Then our joy was great to worship Him our mighty, sovereign One.

He the nations watches ever – all you rebels, humbled be.
Bless our God, all men and nations, praise His Name eternally!
He preserves our souls, and He will keep His paths beneath our feet.

T. M. and Susie Moore

You can listen to a summary of last week’s Scriptorium study by going to our website, www.ailbe.org, and clicking the Scriptorium tab for last Sunday. You can download all the studies in our Luke series by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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