They asked Jesus, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” —that they might accuse Him. Jesus asked them if they rescued animals on the Sabbath, which obviously they did. He asked them, “Of how much more value then, is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Jesus healed. They plotted to destroy Him. [1]
The love of Christ for hurting people offends certain types of mindsets, but this does not stop Jesus from healing those who want to be healed.
A day is coming when those who seek to hinder and to halt healing will be over.
At the end of the age, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” [2]
In a sense, offending those who oppose Jesus is also a ministry of love. How will they ever be convicted of their offensive behavior towards God and how they will ever have an opportunity to see themselves for what they really are unless someone demonstrates God’s unconditional love for them? They need Jesus.
The love of Christ is good news for those who want Him and can be good news for those who oppose Him, that is, if they repent and ask the Lord to forgive and save them.
Jesus invites us to ask Him for help: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” [3]
Jesus invites us to persist in asking for His help until His answer is manifested in a tangible way for us. See Luke 18:1-14.
“He [the Lord] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” [4]
[1] Matthew 12:10-14
[2] Matthew 13:41-43
[3] Matthew 7:7-11
[4] Psalm 147:3
Bearing witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus!
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