‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And his leprosy was cured at once.
Of course I want to!
In the Kingdom of God, we experience a relationship with Jesus here on Earth and in Heaven. Death comes to us all but if we have that relationship with Jesus there is only a transition from the Kingdom of God on Earth to the Kingdom of God in Heaven. Jesus experienced it with His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Absolutely, Jesus can cure us on Earth in many ways. Like the leper He can cleanse us of our sins or physical disease. The miracles performed by modern medicine was not around 2000 years ago, but Jesus’ desire to heal every part of our bodies and souls is still there. This is one of the reasons He tells us to love one another. Jesus is working in the Kingdom of God in other people. When we love them, we experience the Kingdom through them. Jesus wants to heal all of us in body and soul.
Looking back at your life stories, Jesus was at every turn wanting to heal us. When we were children and disobeyed our parents. When we were teenagers creating mischief. When we were young adults and sinned. At every stage of our lives, Jesus wants to heal us.
When I was in grade school in West Alice, Wisconsin, there was a guy named Mike C. I liked him because he was the only person in our class who could spell and pronounce King Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. I was amazed. I had found out later in life that not everyone in Jerusalem was exiled. The walls of a city in ancient times were the protection of the people. The temple was burned and the city was left unprotected Now they weren’t all gone. Still the only ones left behind in the city, the deserters who had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the common people. God chose common people to carry on the life of His Holy City. Nonetheless, God wanted a relationship with them as well. The common people were the ones He chose to stay and take care of the land.
So , who went to Babylon? The trillionaires, the billionaires and the political and religious leaders of the day. They didn’t stay for one generation but multiple generations until they learned the lesson that the Lord was teaching. God wants us to depend on Him. Who remained in Jerusalem? The poor and the cowards. Cowards can be brave at another time. God protected them as they worked the vineyards and tended the flocks of sheep. They harvested the grain and olive groves. They inherited the land that God had given Moses.
The temple was destroyed but the common people survived because of their relationship with the Lord. The Lord wants a relationship with Him. He wants to forgive our sins and heal our relationships. He wants to heal our bodies. Sometimes the healing takes us to Heaven. God wants us. He wants a relationship and a dependence on Him.
If you get this, then the Kingdom of God is here and soon the Kingdom of God will be in Heaven for you and me.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please Pray for Pope Leo XIV. Please Pray for Cancer victims and their caregivers. Pray for those in Hospice. Pray for the conversion of Russia and the salvation of the Ukrainian and Russian people and their soldiers. Pray for the Holy Land. The impossible could and can happen. (Saint Rita) Never deny God! Pray for justice for all victims of human trafficking and immigrants! Pray for justice for our President and all government officials! Pray for Peace!
