Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (6:53-56)
Here you see a key element of my ministry. My goal was to teach people to come to the Father, to learn to love God, to trust in Him and to follow His voice. For this to happen, people needed to see that God was real, that He cared for them, and that they could interact with Him. Through healing I showed them the love of the Father. I did not minister alone but I trained my disciples to also show the love of the Father through healing and casting out demons.
In this process, the people began to learn that through me they could access a power that heals. Some came to get healing as you get a loaf of bread, without interest for my message or for relationship with me or with the Father. The good side is that many developed faith that they could be healed, and my task was to encourage this faith and to lead people to the Father. I often said to people: “your faith has healed you,” as a way to stress that the inner attitude of the persons was of key importance. Faith is very important. Do not criticize too quickly the people who touched the fringe of my garment to get healed. This was for many a key step in learning to come to God with faith. My part was to direct or redirect them toward the Father, while stressing the importance of their faith. The lack of faith is a major reason for both the lack of miracles and the lack of love for God.
Faith is about relationship, lifting the eyes from the problem to God. People have to trust that there is a solution that is beyond their present circumstances, and have the openness to come to God to receive such a solution from Him. Faith is not a matter of control, but of opening the hand to receive. Faith implies being like a child, who does not hesitate to ask to his parents for what he needs, sure that they want his good. As your faith develops, you are invited to receive the good things that God gives you in return. Like children, you have to learn that you cannot control how and what the Father gives. What you need is to know that He is good, that he cares for you and that He will answer to your needs. Learning to ask and to receive is the root of the relationship with God.
As your faith grows, your relationship with God will deepen. Ask for His Holy Spirit to teach you. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Learn to speak to us and to listen to us, to discover this continuous fellowship and dialogue we want to develop with you. You cannot learn to love God with all your heart, soul and strength, if you don’t develop an intimacy with us, this is simply impossible. I am the way, I developed an intimate relationship with my disciples, and taught them how to be close to the Father. I invite you to grow always more in this loving relationship.
The one who loves me is the one who listens to me and who obeys me. You cannot obey if you don’t listen first, and you cannot learn to listen without faith that I want to speak to you. Faith grows by hearing, listening and obeying my words. I am not speaking only about what I said in the Gospels, but also about what you hear from me through the Holy Spirit today. The Spirit will teach you all things, as you learn to listen. As you repent and renounce all that is sinful in your life, as you ask us to purify your heart, you will hear us more clearly. As your faith grows, your relationship with us will get more intimate.
Touching my garment, asking for healing or for help can be a first step in the journey of faith and love for God. Don’t despise small beginnings, and learn to move toward always more intimacy. You will then learn how much we love you, and how much joy there is for you as you grow in this relationship of pure and holy love. Love is the goal of your creation, this will be your greatest joy on earth as it will be in heaven.
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