Imagine being afflicted with a life-altering or life-threatening illness or disease. For some reading this, no imagination is required. When our 18-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia, our highest priority immediately became finding a doctor and a hospital that could offer him a possible cure.

It was no different for those living in Jesus’ day, except they were much more at the mercy of their affliction because so little effective medical treatment was available. And so it was no surprise that when Jesus and his miraculous abilities to heal arrived in a place, people took whatever measures necessary to seek out an audience with this great physician, irrespective of the time of day or the “patient load” Jesus was carrying.

EXPECTING A MIRACLE
That’s why, when people in Capernaum learned physical healings were taking place and demons were being cast out, they waited only until the Sabbath Day restriction was over before making a beeline to Simon and Andrew’s front door expecting nothing short of a miracle. They were not disappointed, and it is likely Jesus served this insistent crowd into the wee hours of the night.

Clearly, with such a great demand on his time, Jesus had few moments to himself; in fact, he had to be intentional to create quiet times. Scripture says, very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus found a solitary place where he could be alone with his Father. I’ve often wondered what Jesus spoke to his Father about, but I assume it was his time to refocus and recommit to God’s plan for his ministry.

It is clear Jesus wasn’t in this for fame or fortune. Satan had already offered Jesus the world and the Lord had rejected it. And Jesus’ healings never required an audience. The healings occurred as powerfully in the privacy of a friend’s home as in the midst of a crowd, and he commonly urged the newly healed person to tell no one. Not once did he require or accept remuneration for his services, although there likely were times when it was offered.

GAINING A HEARING
In reading this passage it’s apparent Jesus never saw his healings as an end to themselves. His power to heal the body was only an avenue to gain a hearing for healing he could offer to the soul. The focus of his preaching was the “kingdom of God”—something he admonished the people to welcome and become a part of (Mark 1:14, 15).

That’s because Jesus knew belonging to the kingdom of God was the only way to be permanently healed. Every person who felt Jesus’ healing touch eventually succumbed to the ravages of this world’s curse and suffered physical death. Those who had been released from demonic possession still had the opportunity to come under its dark influence again (see Luke 11:24-26).

So when the disciples came looking for Jesus the next day and exclaimed, “Everyone’s looking for you!” Jesus suggested they make their way to the next village so he could preach there, also. No doubt a similar scenario would be repeated, but his message there would still focus on the “kingdom of God.”

As this scene is repeated in village after village, Jesus is forced to spend time in “lonely places” where people must approach him on his terms rather than their own. No doubt Jesus desired people seek him out for eternal purposes, not just the temporal.

FINDING HOPE
One evening months after our son’s cancer diagnosis, and well into his treatment, while we were sitting beside his bed in the intensive care unit not knowing whether he would live or die, I asked him if he was scared. He said he was a little scared but the “Heaven factor,” as he called it, gave him great hope.

Fortunately, through the prayers of many in our family of faith, God’s healing hand touched our son and he is still with us today. But thankfully, a number of years before that painful moment, our son responded to Christ’s touch on his life and he was spiritually healed by the power of the cross and was ready for eternity.

I don’t want to ever forget that moment. It was a great reminder to me that while God often provides physical healing for his children, the greatest miracle happens in our heart and mind when we respond to Christ’s invitation to be a part of his eternal kingdom.

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* All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, unless otherwise indicated.