I’ve been healed, I’ve been touched by His grace
I’ve felt His power, and now I am changed
There’s one explanation, the God of creation
Has done a miracle in me
Let my story been know, let the truth be told
I have been healed.

For our devotionals this month we’ve been taking songs from the quartet, Brian Free and Assurance and finding the titles of those songs in Scripture.  It has been fun, and more than once I’ve been surprised at what I found!  This next song, Healed, from BFA’s “Live In New York City” project, has been one of those “surprises.”  After looking up how many times the word “healed” has been used in the Old and New Testaments, I found the number to be 78 times!  Now that would make a long devotional!  Don’t worry, we’re not going to look at all the references, but since the song recounts two stories that happened in the time of Christ, we’ll focus on the New Testament, specifically, the book of Luke.

Perhaps the best verses to begin with would be these…

Luke 9:10-11.  It says, “And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done.  And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and he healed them that had need of healing.”

Luke 4:40 – “Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.”

Luke 6:19 – “And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.”

The point that these verses are making is this: no one was left out!  Everyone that needed healing that approached Jesus Christ, was healed.  No one was refused!  This is important because the three people we are going to look at in this post, were healed in some unusual  circumstances.  Nevertheless, they were all healed!

To begin, lets turn to Luke 8:43-44 and 47, “And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.”…“And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.”

This is the instance that is spoken of in the second verse of the ballad Healed.  What is interesting is that according to the Old Testament Law, if someone had an issue of blood, they were considered unclean – and then, who or what they touched became unclean also.  So, here is a woman who really didn’t have the liberty to reach out and touch someone like she did.  She was unclean, she should not have been around other people.  She should have been isolated.  In other words, she didn’t belong.  Yet, she was still healed.  Why?  Because she came to the Lord and had faith.  It doesn’t seem right, does it?  She was in the wrong, and she shouldn’t have been there.  If there ever was a Person someone unclean should not have touched, it would have been Christ, because He was perfect and pure…but in His omnipotence He knew that she would come touch Him that day, and even allowed it, showing her compassion.
I think we’re a lot like that woman.  We were unclean with sin.  We should have been cut off and isolated from the presence of a Holy God…yet, we can “confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God hath raised him from the dead…and be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)  We shouldn’t be able to do that, should we?  But by the grace of God we can!

In Luke chapter 7, a special servant of a Roman centurion was so sick he was ready to die, and the Roman sent for Jesus to come and heal him.  Verses 1-10 give us the whole story, but since that passage is so long, I’m only going to quote a few verses.  “Then Jesus went with them.  And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed…When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, ‘I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.’  And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.” – Luke 7:6-7 and 9-10
What’s unusual about this story is that Jesus was asked to heal by a “word” and not a “touch.”  Normally, people would go to Jesus and He would heal them.  Like the woman with the issue of blood, the ten lepers, the blind man, etc.  Here, this Roman was so confident in Jesus Christ that he said, “I’m not worthy for you to come in to my house, just heal him from where you’re at.”  This centurion really grasped who Jesus was – the Son of God.  The rulers of the Jewish nation denied it again and again, but it was so apparent that even a Roman could see it!  But that’s not all, he had the faith to match his knowledge and his servant was healed.

What about us?  Do we have the kind of faith that this centurion had?  Can we ask the Lord for something and believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that it will happen?  Do you have that kind of faith?  It doesn’t matter if we ask for something big or small – anything is possible with God!

The final Scripture that we’re going to see today is found in Luke 22:50-51, where in the Garden, Judas betrayed the Messiah and had Him arrested.  “And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.  And Jesus answered and said, ‘Suffer ye thus far.’  And he touched his ear, and healed him.”

Here was a man who was in the crowd that despised Jesus so much, that they came to arrest Him so He could be crucified.  (Now, whether this servant shared the same feelings as his master we know not.)  But you would think that if you were with those kind of men, you wouldn’t expect any type of kindness from the One you were arresting.  This servant was one among many who was sending Jesus of Nazareth to His death, who was he to receive compassion from the Son of God?  Yet, he did.  He received more than compassion, he received healing too.

The lesson here is this: no matter who you are – even if you think yourself too far away from God to ever come back to Him, consider this servant, whom, even among the enemy received healing.  In truth it was said of Christ, “and He healed them that had need of healing.”  Even the undeserving.  If this man could go to Jesus as an enemy and walk away with a new ear – friend, you can go to Jesus as a sinner, or with a problem that you are having and walk away with a new life.  Be healed.  It really is that easy!

Conclusion:  We just read of three different people from three very different walks of life (a sick woman, a servant and a centurion) but not one of them were beyond the reach of Christ.  They all received what they needed from the Messiah.  He healed them all!  Here is the point:  Hebrews says that Jesus Christ is the same – He does not change.  That means that His healing power is still available to those who need it today – even if He is no longer walking the earth in reach of our physical touch, we can receive that same touch from where He sits on a throne in heaven.  If we call upon Him and have the faith that these people had, we too can be healed.  It is not contained to a select few, it is for everyone, for it says of Him while He was on this earth, “He healed them all,” so surely, if He does not change, He is still waiting to heal those who call upon Him.