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Jesus, I Receive Your Healing

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. 

Jesus, I belong to you.

I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body as a holy and living sacrifice to you. 

Jesus, We belong to you. 

Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. 

Luke 7:18–20 (NIV)

John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

CONSIDER THIS

What an unexpected question; and from cousin John—the Baptizer no less:

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

I mean, I’m sure John was not too happy about the tax collector party and the healing of the Roman centurion’s son, but come on John! Cousin Jesus just raised a boy from the dead! What are you looking for here? 

Obviously, he still hadn’t found what he was looking for. I suspect John wanted Jesus to smite the Pharisees, shame the tax collectors, and call down fire on the Romans. He wanted this kingdom to be aligned with the nation and its interest. All these random healings of apparent nobodies likely seemed like so much fluff; some kind of social justice campaign.

Whatever this was to John, it must not have seemed messianic. Here was the voice of Isaiah, the one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. And John seemed to be missing him entirely—though Jesus was right before his eyes. John wanted the high ways to be brought down and the low ways up and the crooked ways straight and so on. It looks like he had Isaiah 40 down but had completely missed Isaiah 61, with the release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind and the deliverance of the oppressed and the good news to the poor. 

It makes me wonder about myself. Would I even recognize Jesus if he came to me today? Am I blinded by my preconceived expectations? What if it’s our own expectations and preconceptions we need to release? It takes an empowered humility to do this; to let God be God apart from our helpful agendas, big ideas, and best intentions. 

It sounds like John wanted Jesus to play the lead role in the cast of his story. Maybe John needed to locate himself among the cast of Jesus story. Maybe I do too. Watch where this goes with the messengers:

At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Luke 7:21–23)

I had an epiphany today in the midst of this great season of revelation. I think I see myself more in Jesus’s cast of characters than ever before in my life. I was thinking of Jesus’s word about his coming not for the healthy but the sick. Then it hit me. I’m not among the sick as one who is healthy. I’m among the sick as one who is sick. I need Jesus, the doctor, to heal me. I’m a lot healthier than I used to be, but I still carry disease in my inmost being, if not in my body, too. 

And here’s how he’s teaching me to pray. It’s not, “Jesus if you are willing you can heal me.” He is willing. Nor is it, “Jesus would you please heal me.” Instead it’s “Jesus, I receive your healing.” I commend it to you. It’s a watershed shift. More on that to come. 

THE PRAYER

Jesus, we receive your healing. Let’s keep it that simple today. I confess, I so often see the poor, the oppressed, the broken, the hurting, the lepers, the blind, and so many others as just that—other. I sense your drawing me to them not as other but as myself; not as their solution but their companion on the journey. For I, too, need the doctor. Show me my sickness that you might heal it. Yes, Jesus, I receive your healing. This feels like a very significant revelation to me. Praying in your name, amen. 

THE QUESTION

What are your preconceived notions and expectations of Jesus? It can be hard to see them. Often they are only exposed when we come into view of the real Jesus; which is a relief. Can we just humble ourselves before him? 

THE HYMN

Let’s sing a song today not from our hymnal but perhaps familiar to your heart. In case not, the words are below. It’s called “Open Our Eyes, Lord.”

Open our eyes, Lord,
we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch him,
and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord,
and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord,
we want to see Jesus.

For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt

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WHAT IS THIS? Wake-Up Call is a daily encouragement to shake off the slumber of our busy lives and turn our eyes toward Jesus. Each morning our community gathers around a Scripture, a reflection, a prayer, and a few short questions, inviting us to reorient our lives around the love of Jesus that transforms our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.

Comments and Discussion

3 Responses

  1. JD, I’d like to offer an alternate reason for John’s sending his disciples over to inquire about Jesus being the Messiah. Somewhere I read this alternate reason, so it’s not original to me, but it seemed plausible. What if John, being a prophet, already was aware that his time was short. What if he knew that his own disciples would be left as orphans. We know that when they had complained that some of his(John’s) disciples were already starting to follow Jesus rather than him, that John stated, “ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:29-30) Perhaps these questions were intended for John’s disciples benefit not his?

    1. This is how I have understood this text too, Bob. I find it more plausible than John, who leapt in his mother’s womb, and declared Jesus ‘the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’, (John 1:29) doubting who Jesus was.

  2. Lord, I receive your healing and a clearer view of the real Jesus.

    I woke up this morning with these Bible-based thoughts about the real Jesus going through my mind and heart. “Jesus is the Maker of all things — Emmanuel, God with us! Realizing who Jesus is — that realization is the rock of revelation that turns dry bones into living stones so Jesus can build them together as His assembly of His Spirit-led body. Christ, the Creator-man, living in you is infinitely more powerful than any religious activity. Let Jesus, the Creator-man, personally show Himself to you. You don’t have to die to meet your Maker. Christ will interact with you right now! Jesus, the Creator of the Universe who became a human being, is now reaching out to you.” Receive Him as your literal Lord and Master.

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