February 8

There met him two possessed with devils. — Matt 8:28

It looks as if Jesus crossed the sea just to heal these demoniacs. At least He returned as soon as He had done this one act of mercy.

It is worth a great effort to show even one little kindness to a person in trouble. These demoniacs were a terror to the neighborhood. But Jesus left them sitting, clothed and in their right mind. He can take the most hopeless moral ruin and restore it to spiritual beauty.

The healing of the paralytic was wrought through vicarious faith. The man was carried to Jesus by his friends, and it was when He saw “their faith” that He gave the man a blessing.

There is great power in intercessory prayer. Our deepest need is not the curing of bodily ills, but the forgiving of our sins. These men wanted their friend’s palsy healed, but Jesus saw a trouble worse than that, and first forgave the man’s sins.

When we are sick it is not enough to ask that we be made well – we should ask first that our sins be forgiven.