40 When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.
Do you know of anyone who the “sun is setting” in their lives and they are beset with all kinds of various troubles? Out of love and compassion, take them to Jesus. The sun could be setting both in years or in “an opportune time” – the clock is ticking for both. The people in Jesus’ day brought all those who were struggling with all sorts of maladies – physical, emotional, mental, etc, etc. and He healed each one. Jesus is in the business of making “all things new”. He desires to heal spiritually each person approaching Him with a willing heart and mind. I love the word used in the above verse translated “brought”. It is the Greek word “Ago” meaning to lead, to lead along, to carry, to guide toward repentance, to influence. Because of their belief in Jesus’ achieving power and authority, these people were guiding, dragging along, if you will, those they loved so that they too may be touched by the Master. I love what Jesus’ half brother wrote in Jude 22:22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Jude 1:22-23 (NIV)
When we know for certain Whom it is that heals, out of love for Christ and for others, we respond. I love a quote from Edmond Burke in reference to our responding in actions: "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.” As Romans 12 Christians, we are to serve out of love our fellow sojourners, helping them by leading them or pointing them to the One that does have the power to help! One reason I can think of for not sharing this very good news is that we perhaps have not experienced it ourselves. We are unsure of how to express our faith and how to point others to Christ through our words and deeds. This should serve as a reminder to all of us our call as believers! We are to “grow up” in Him to be able to share and point Truth to others. The word translated “sickness” in the above verse are two Greek words: “Astheneo” meaning without strength, sick, weak spiritually, weak in riches, poor; destitute of authority and the Greek word “Nosos” meaning disease, sickness; metaphorically refers to pain, sorrow. The world is certainly filled with hurting people such as these. Our spheres of influence are likewise. We must take heed lest we miss our windows of opportunities. We must remind our hurting world of Jesus. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in 1983, spoke on the great disasters that had befallen Russia stating: "More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’ Since then I have spent will-nigh fifty years working on the history of our Revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous Revolution that swallowed up some sixty million or our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’”