A Study In Luke - Day 11

Day 11 - Luke 6:17-19
 
17 When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. 19 Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.

This is a bit of a transitional paragraph to give us some insight to what was happening, who was there, and what was about to be said. Jesus is about to teach what is called the Sermon on the Plains, which is close to the Sermon on the Mount that we see in Matthew 5. We see that there a multitude of people from all over Judea, much like in Matthew 4 and Mark 3.

But there is something else we should note as well: It says that they could see the power that was going out of him. We know that Jesus knew when power left him. We see that explicitly in the story of the woman with the issue of blood. (Luke 8)

What does this mean, that there was power that was emanating from him? We don’t experience that too often. At Redlands we have an electrical room where i have to change in the worship service when here is a baptism. I don’t have enough time to run back to a changing room or my office, so I use this electrical room. it is warm and dry, but there is a transformer in this room that is always a little warmer than the rest of the room. I am not an electrician, but it sure feels like there is an extra amount of energy that is coursing through this transformer.
 
I imagine this is what it was like being around Jesus. The energy was palpable. They knew he was not of this world, but to feel that power coursing through his veins would have been quite a sight and an ever more pronounced feeling. Have you ever known someone who has this kind of kinetic energy around them?

I have! Honestly, it was my daughter when she was little. Hannah was always buzzing, not like a bee, but like a bare wire, about ready to have her energy connect with something else and the sparks would begin to fly. Some people are just born with the energy that is crackling off of them.
 
These people are electric to be around. They are exciting, and they have a tendency to draw quite a crowd. I think there are some actors in Hollywood wood, and some leaders hat have this kind of energy about them. However, the difference between them and Jesus is that there were times when that energy was the power of the Holy Spirit moving through Jesus in such a way that those around him were healed.

1. What do you think it would have been like to be near Jesus at that time? 
2. Would you have liked to see someone healed by that power? 
3. What can we do to bring some of that power into the world today?