Set Me Free

  
Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Luke 5:17

 

    Did you read that?! Did you see what it said? …there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by,… And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. They were SITTING BY!!! When the power of the Lord was present to heal them! This story continues and next thing we know there’s debris falling from the ceiling and everyone’s looking up to see four brawny guys making a hole in the roof so that they can lower their paralyzed friend down before Jesus. And it says: When He saw their faith, He said to him, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.’ And He also healed him.

The Pharisees and the teachers were right there!!! They were by Him! They could have easily reached Him and touch Him, and yet because they were so self-righteous and disbelieving they left that home just as sick and chained as when they’d come. This is disturbing!

   There’s a song by Casting Crowns called Set Me Free. At the end Jesus says these words to the demon-possessed man: Do you want to be free? Lift your chains, I hold the key, All power of Heav'n and earth belong to Me

   The one who holds the power of Heav’n and earth is present to heal you… have we sat by because of disbelief? The ones Jesus healed and freed were those who believed in Him and weren’t ashamed to: crawl through the crowds on their hands and knees to touch his robe, expose their nakedness on an isolated beach by some pig farmers, risk job and reputation to fall at his feet and beg for Him to come and heal, kept crying out when everyone told them to be quiet, or approached Him in their death.

   Are we too “righteous” in our own eyes to fall at His feet and publicly expose our paralyzing sinfulness? 

   I recently had the privilege of meeting an 81 year old woman who has been following the Lord since she was 12. And the one thing I always see in those who have been following the Lord for years like this, is their humility. The longer they go the more they see their depravity and desperate need to depend on Him for EVERYTHING! Their wisdom of the years does not make them grow bigger but smaller as their eyes are daily opened to a clearer vision of the One who holds all the power of heav’n and earth.

   May I never again be so blinded by self-righteousness and disbelief that I sit by, when the power of the Lord is present to heal me.