Be Careful How You Hear

And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. -Luke 5:17

God’s power was present, but none of the Pharisees and doctors of the law were healed. They weren’t there to receive, they were just looking for a reason to accuse Jesus.

But what about the woman with the issue of blood? She heard of Jesus, pressed through a crowd, touched His garment, and was healed. “And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him…said unto her, Daughter, your faith has made you whole.” (Mark 5:30,31). The same virtue, or power, was available to everyone in the multitude thronging Jesus, but only the woman was healed.

Now look at Luke 17:29. In this account, a great multitude of people “came to hear him, and to be healed of all their diseases…And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him and healed them all” (vv 17,19). This time the entire multitude was healed.

All three of these accounts talk about the power, or virtue, Jesus was anointed with. He never ran out of that anointing. He never said, “Well, folks, I’ve healed too many people today, I just don’t have any more anointing.” No, John 3:34 says Jesus had the Holy Spirit without measure.

But these three stories each had a different result. The difference was in the hearing. In Luke, the Pharisees and doctors of the law wouldn’t hear, so no one was healed. In Mark 5, the woman had heard of Jesus and came to Him believing, so she received her healing. And the multitude in Luke 6 all “came to hear him, and to be healed.” And they were!

It’s a constant pattern in Jesus’ ministry. Those who heard and then acted in faith always received what they desired from the Lord.

CONFESSION:

What I hear and how I hear determine what I have in my life. I choose to hear God’s Word, and my faith increases daily to receive all that He says is mine!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999