Good Friday morning! Jesus healed instantly and completely with a word or a touch. We like that part. We like it so much that we forget the duration of the illness many of Doctor Jesus' patients suffered before that moment of healing from the Master. Twelve years the woman with a flow of blood suffered before she reached out to touch the robe of Jesus in faith. We look at the story and see the instant healing, but blip over the twelve years that came before that moment. We don't like the duration of those illnesses in the Bible; just give us that instant wellness! Another suffered 38 years and had no one to place him in the pool at Bethesda. Jesus healed him in that moment. Wonderful! Marvelous! Jesus can heal me in a moment too! Wait...what was that number that came before the moment? 38 years?!
Our suffering seems so long in duration sometimes, and indeed it is for so many. We wonder why Jesus doesn't heal us instantly like He did back in the day. He does; we just like to set aside the duration part of those stories from back in the day. 12 years, 38 years, these are long years for the suffering. For their sake, let us remember the sacrifice of those suffering years. Let us know that Jesus does heal in power at the due time through His authority over all flesh. Our moment of healing, the due time, may not arrive for some days, weeks, or years. Not the news we want to hear this morning? I'm with you, but we should know that the sacrifice of years is never wasted.
God might have timed the arrival of His Son so that the man at Bethesda only suffered for 38 minutes, but that story wouldn't have quite the same impact on us. Jesus could have taken a few days off from the carpenter shop in Nazareth to go heal the woman 12 years early, but again the story would be almost ruined for us. You have a story God wants to use as a witness to His goodness. How long is just right for a story of God's loving kindness? Perhaps you and me can suffer a bit longer as we fulfill another great witness story for Christ.
Amen, come Lord Jesus!Bucky
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