Have you ever noticed the various ways Jesus engaged those who came to Him with afflictions?  Sometimes Jesus touched the frail bodies of the diseased.  Other times He simply spoke a Word of rebuke to the unclean spirits.  Still other times, He only gave a word of promise.  Once, He actually spit on the ground and made clay to press upon the eyes of the blind.

My point is simple: Christ worked in a variety of ways depending on the person’s faith and ailment.  He didn’t do things the exact way every time.  There wasn’t a cookie-cutter answer for every problem and perplexity that was brought to Him by His followers.  No, Jesus responded based upon the individuality of those who came.

Divine Dominion

The one thing, however, that every situation did have in common was the fact that Jesus always demonstrated His authority over the affliction.  Whether it was leprosy, demon-possession, blindness, fevers, or death, every ailment had to succumb to the dominion of the divine.  Through His healing power, Jesus demonstrated His authority over sin.  Sin causes sickness, uncleanness, spiritual oppression and possession, even death.  With every healing and every act of restoration, Jesus was announcing His authority over a sin-cursed world.  Sin, with abrasive power lays hold on our lives, capturing the mind, spirit, and body.  Like the Israelites in Egyptian bondage, sin lays heavy burdens on the back of the bond-slave.  It destroys family, it kills joy, it decays flesh, it damns the soul.  Who has the power to overcome it?  Who has the strength to break free from its grasp?

One Who Overcomes

Ah, at last, the Nazarene draws nigh.  He looks like us, He talks like us, He feels like us, yet He is different.  Can you hear the multitude, with all of their afflictions, whispering one to another about this man? They do not know all the theological insights to His nature, attributes, or mission but the one thing they know is this: He has authority.  And through that authority, He binds the demons of hell, He relieves the fevered brow, He walks upon the water, He cleanses rotting flesh, He raises the dead and gives sight to the darkened soul.  He does all of these things because He governs from a throne where all things are under His feet.

Is your affliction too hard to bear? Has it bound you with fetters strong?  Are you fighting devils you cannot beat, storms you cannot weather, and battles you cannot overcome?  May I remind you of this never-fleeting truth: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Christ has all power in heaven and earth. And he can give you the victory to overcome simply because He has the authority to do so.