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Compassionate Power - Mark 1:40-42

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A man that had leprosy came to Jesus. The man bowed on his knees and begged Jesus, "You have the power to heal me if you want." Jesus felt sorry for the man. So Jesus touched the man and said, "I want to heal you. Be healed!" Immediately the leprosy disappeared, and he was healed. (ERV)   Full Text

Key Thought

This translation uses the expression "felt sorry," but the better translation is probably "felt compassion." In his heart, in his "gut," Jesus feels the anguish of this man afflicted with leprosy. So before he speaks healing into the man's life, he does the unthinkable: he touches the leprous man. By Jewish law, Jesus makes himself unclean by touching the man. Yet Jesus wants to show the compassion he feels in a way this man would understand. Jesus spoke the words of healing only after he has connected to the man's deepest emotional need and bridged the barrier that enforced this man's isolation. Mark has two messages for us in this story. First, he wants us to know that Jesus has come and bridged the distance between us and God and he will let nothing separate us from his love. Second, he wants us to do the same with others.

Today's Prayer

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Dear Father in heaven, thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you for bridging the distance between your holiness and my weakness by sending Jesus. Use me to help others find their way to Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.
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Today's Verses in Context

A man that had leprosy came to Jesus. The man bowed on his knees and begged Jesus, "You have the power to heal me if you want." Jesus felt sorry for the man. So Jesus touched the man and said, "I want to heal you. Be healed!" Immediately the leprosy disappeared, and he was healed. Jesus told the man to go. But Jesus warned him strongly. Jesus said, "Don't tell any person about what I did for you. But go and show yourself to the priest. And offer a gift to God because you have been healed. Offer the gift that Moses commanded. This will show people that you are healed." The man left there and told all the people he saw that Jesus had healed him. So the news about Jesus spread. And that is why Jesus could not enter a town if people saw him. Jesus stayed in places where people did not live. But people came from all the towns to the places where Jesus was.

— Mark 1:40-45 (ERV)

 

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.
 
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Then Jesus said again, "Peace be with you! The Father sent me. In the same way, I now send you."
John 20:21 (ERV)

Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem. He went from Galilee to Samaria. He came into a small town. Ten men met him there. These men did not come close to Jesus, because they all had leprosy. But the men yelled to Jesus, "Jesus! Master! Please help us!" When Jesus saw the men, he said, "Go and show yourselves to the priests. " While the ten men were going to the priests, they were healed. When one of the men saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus. He praised God loudly. He bowed down at Jesus' feet. The man thanked Jesus. (This man was a Samaritan. ) Jesus said, "Ten men were healed; where are the other nine? This man is not even a Jew! Is he the only one that came back to give praise to God?" Then Jesus said to the man, "Stand up! You can go. You were healed because you believed."
Luke 17:11-19 (ERV)

This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters {in Christ}. Suppose a believer is rich enough to have all the things he needs. He sees his brother {in Christ} who is poor and does not have the things he needs. What if the believer who has things does not help the poor brother? Then the believer who has the things he needs does not have God's love in his heart. My children, our love should not be only words and talk. No! Our love must be true love. We should show our love by the things we do.
1 John 3:16-18 (ERV)


 
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HOME     topTOP HEARTLIGHT® Magazine is produced by Heartlight, Inc. HEARTLIGHT is a registered service mark of Heartlight, Inc. PO Box 7044, Abilene, TX, USA 79608-7044. Copyright © 1996-2008. Heartlight is supported by Westover Hills Church, Southern Hills Church, and loving Christians from around the world. Scripture quotations are taken from the Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. Used by permission. All rights reserved.