'He healed them that had need of healing.'--Luke ix. 11.
Jesus was seeking a little quiet and rest for Himself and His
followers. For that purpose He took one of the fishermen's boats to
cross to the other side of the sea. But the crowd, inconsiderate and
selfish, like all crowds, saw the course of the boat, and hurried,
as they could easily do, on foot round the head of the lake, to be
ready for Him wherever He might land. So when He touched the shore,
there they all were, open-mouthed and mostly moved by mere
curiosity, and the prospect of a brief breathing-space vanished.
But not a word of rebuke or disappointment came from His lips, and
no shade of annoyance crossed His spirit. Perhaps with a sigh, but
yet cheerfully, He braced Himself to work where He had hoped for
leisure. It was a little thing, but it was the same in kind, though
infinitely smaller in magnitude, as that which led Him to lay aside
'the glory that He had with the Father before the world was,' and
come to toil and die amongst men.
But what I especially would note are Luke's remarkable words here.
Why does he use that periphrasis, 'Them that had need of healing,'
instead of contenting himself with straightforwardly saying, 'Them
that were sick,' as do the other Evangelists? Well, I suppose he
wished to hint to us the Lord's discernment of men's necessities,
the swift compassion which moved to supply a need as soon as it was
observed, and the inexhaustible power by which, whatsoever the
varieties of infirmity, He was able to cure and to bring strength.
'He healed them that had need of healing,' because His love could
not look upon a necessity without being moved to supply it, and
because that love wielded the resources of an infinite power.
Now, all our Lord's miracles are parables, illustrating upon a lower
platform spiritual facts; and that is especially true about the
miracles of healing. So I wish to deal with the words before us as
having a direct application to ourselves, and to draw from them two
or three very old, threadbare, neglected lessons, which I pray God
may lead some of us to recognise anew our need of healing, and
Christ's infinite power to bestow it. There are three things that I
want to say, and I name them here that you may know where I am
going. First, we all need healing; second, Christ can heal us all;
third, we are not all healed.