Posts Tagged ‘healing’

do you want to get well?

March 11, 2010

(Today is a guest post from Rich Dixon, a new and frequent commenter here. I asked him to help me understand this text. He did. )

Jesus sees a man sitting beside a therapy pool. The guy’s been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. Jesus asks a surprising question. “Do you want to get well?”

I wonder if the man thought it was a dumb question.

I’ve lived twenty-two years with paralysis. If somebody asked if I wanted to get well, I’d think it’s a dumb question. Of course I want to walk again.

This guy already knows exactly what he needs. If he could only be the first one into the water … but nobody will help him. Perhaps this stranger intends to carry him to the source of healing.

I could tell Jesus just what I need to walk again. If I could find the right doctor … if only someone would carry me to the source of healing, some revolutionary medical treatment that mends damaged nerves.

Or … maybe the man heard the question differently: Do you REALLY want to get well? He’d seen the accusing glances, overheard the whispered gossip. Why does he just sit there? Is he lazy, just looking for a free ride?

Maybe he was like people who struggle with addiction or poverty or abuse, tired of asking for help and receiving condescending suggestions about trying a little harder. Perhaps the man at the pool felt attacked and defended himself by explaining that he was doing his best.

Jesus didn’t ask dumb questions. He didn’t make back-handed accusations. His question wasn’t about walking.

Jesus cared about something a lot bigger and deeper and more eternal than physical health. His question wasn’t just addressed to the paralyzed man.

He spoke to those who listened and wanted to learn, and to those who watched and judged and condemned based on their self-righteous concern for religious rules rather than people.

He’s still doing that.

Posted in belief | 4 Comments »
Tags: , ,

sometimes faith means walking away

March 9, 2010

Jesus told a man that his son would be healed.

The man took Jesus at his word and headed home.

Perhaps the man was good at taking direction because he worked for the king. That was certainly true for another healing situation. A centurion (military commander of 100 soldiers) wanted a servant healed. Jesus offered to come. The centurion said that Jesus had the power to command healing without being present, just like the centurion could command soldiers.

Perhaps this dad was used to being told “We’re finished. You can leave.” When Jesus said it, the man left. But you have to wonder what the man wondered. As he walked back home, an overnight trip, what was he thinking?

What do we think in those situations? We ask God for something. Some healing, some wisdom, some help. We finish asking (often with the formal “amen.”) And then what? We often read Bible verses to each other about trust and faith and timing. But most often we wonder. Or at least I do.

The man is getting close to home. His staff meets him on the road with good news. His son is well. The man asks for a timeline and discovers that exactly when Jesus says, “Your son will live,” the fever breaks. And now, finally, the man and his household (family and servants) believed that Jesus was who he said he was.

Our conversations with God are often unfocused. Sometimes we forget to draw lines connecting  events and prayers. We don’t expect that there will be an actual answer. We don’t remember what we asked when. And often, we don’t take Jesus at his word.

This dad did. He walked away from Jesus, trusting as much as he could. He arrived at home a believer.

Between? I bet he wondered.

Posted in belief | 2 Comments »
Tags: , , ,

shut up

September 24, 2009

My parents never let us say “shut up.” At one point in our history, one of us three would say “shut up…your mouth” as a way to avoid the inevitable look of disapproval.

“Shut up” is pretty much what a crowd of people was saying to two men who couldn’t see.

The men were by a road. They were likely begging, asking the people walking by for money. This day, they heard a crowd coming. They asked what was happening. They found out that Jesus was at the head of the crowd.

The men called out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

For guys who are begging crying out would have been pretty common. This was pretty focused crying out however. It would have been passionate. It would have pierced through the conversations going on around Jesus.

He was, after all, the only hope they had.

And the people in the crowd surrounding Jesus told the men to shut up.

I don’t know why. It may have been because they (the crowd) were afraid this hollering would spoil the reputation of the town (the chamber of commerce theory). It may have been because they wanted to hear Jesus themselves (the selfish theory).

What I do know is that it still happens. Crowds of seemingly religious people, looking like they are following Jesus, are telling people who need his help to shut up.

“You wouldn’t fit in our church.” “That’s my seat.” “I need quiet and space to hear from Jesus and so we need to keep the (pick one) crying babies, wheezing old people, wheelchairs, organists, drummers, imperfect people, perfect people, left, right, those people quiet.”

In this case, the two men kept shouting. Jesus healed them. They joined the crowd. Following Jesus.

I’m glad.

And I’m convicted.

Posted in commands | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,

Careless words

May 18, 2009

Jesus healed a man who couldn’t see and couldn’t speak.

He condemns some men who could.

The former had a demon, an evil spirit, an agent of satan.

The latter accused Jesus of working for satan.

The former caused people to begin to ask serious, thoughtful questions about the identity of Jesus, about his role in the lineage of David.

The latter caused people to wonder.

(By the way, this contrast of the man who couldn’t speak and the men who shouldn’t is in Matthew 12. The short version? A man had a demon that kept him from seeing and speaking. Jesus healed him. The people were impressed. The Pharisees said that the devil made him do it.)

Jesus takes issue with the reaction of the group of men who reacted to the healing. They were religious leaders. They talked among themselves. They made a sarcastic, dismissive comment. But Jesus overheard their thoughts and did what any self-respecting rabbi would do in response to unsound reasoning.

He destroyed it.

He identified the logical inconsistencies in their claim. He made it impossible for them to cling to their statement without condemning their colleagues who had done the same thing Jesus had. He summarized demon-removal theory. He said that actions prove the nature of the actor, words prove the nature of the speaker. He made a very large deal out of their comment.

And then he summarizes his teaching this way:

“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”

Oh my. Every careless word? Every smart comment? Each of every three hundred words?

Oh. Then there is this difficulty. When Jesus starts teaching, he starts because he knew their thoughts.

Every careless.

We are called to be careful.

Posted in character | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , ,

quietly on purpose

May 8, 2009

“How come Jesus told people not to talk about how he healed them?”

That’s a great question. It’s a question that someone asked me recently. It’s a question that I’ve wondered about and have made up answers to and have never really looked at.

Until just now.

It wasn’t because I was actually doing the research to answer the question. That would be too wise, too intentional. (It is a good principle, however. When someone asks a question about what something in the Bible means, consider actually looking in the Bible).

No, I was just moving through Matthew, the way I have been doing here, and I read “warning them not to tell who he was. This was to fulfill…” (Matthew 12:15-21).

As I read the “fulfill” part, which is a quotation from the prophecy of Isaiah, it was describing the ministry of someone who would work quietly, work gently with hurting people, who would not drive down the street with an loud amplifier.

Now, here’s the interesting thing: at the same time he’s proclaiming justice, no one will hear his voice in the streets.

It’s an interesting thought. Maybe he will be showing justice. Maybe he will be living justice. Maybe he will, with the touch of his hand and a quiet voice, bring hope and healing.

Maybe those of use following him can follow that model, living justly, whispering hope, offering healing with gentle words that will not destroy those already bruised and burned. Maybe, in fact, following is working around the edges looking for the bruised, the burned, the breaking. Maybe following is seeking out. Maybe following is being in the streets gathering pieces of broken hurt and mending them until justice is gently led to victory.

Maybe following means, or at least includes, living quietly on purpose.

Posted in justice | 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,

looking for a reason

May 7, 2009

Sometimes you have conversations that are conversations. Sometimes questions are asked for the purpose of finding out the answer.

“How is it with your soul?” is a question seeking an answer, trying to help someone else reflect.

“What is the question you don’t want me to ask?” is a question about trust, about helping someone discern what is going on in their heart.

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” is a research kind of question. It could lead to a wonderful reflection on what sabbath really means, about what is restful, about the line between restorative activity and work.

Jesus goes that direction, using very clear comparative legal reasoning. “You’ll take care of a sheep. A man is worth more than a sheep. Therefore taking care of a man is acceptable.”

It is clear and accurate…and wasted.

They didn’t care at all about the answer. They cared about trapping Jesus, about finding a reason to kill him.

They asked the question knowing that the better his answer, the more wrong he would be. And he knew that the better his answer was, the more in trouble he would be.

And he didn’t back down. They asked. He answered truthfully and skillfully and then he healed the man. Because for Jesus, this was not an abstract conversation about theology. This was about a man with a hand that needed to be fixed.

——–

Join me in the mirror for a moment for some more questions:

1. When you know someone has argumentative questions, do you answer or avoid?

2. Is your answer adequate or technically brilliant?

3. Are you more about winning the argument or healing the person that is being used as bait?

4. For the sake of a person, will you risk everything?

Jesus wasn’t looking for a reason. He had one.

Posted in questions, sabbath | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,

into the house

April 20, 2009

Two blind guys knew Jesus healed blind guys. They followed him. They called to him, “have mercy on us.”

We don’t know how far the followed him. We don’t know where they started following him. We know that they were with him after he left the house of the formerly dead daughter. Whether they had been with him before that is not mentioned.

They were, however, following him. They were blind. They were asking him to have mercy on them.

Here’s a wonderful picture of the early stages of following Jesus for many people. Before he has done anything for them, they are aware that something is happening with other people and they are aware they need help.

I had thought about saying, “they see that something is happening” but, of course, these two blind men couldn’t see.

Jesus goes into a house. The two guys follow him.

They are serious about getting help. They are willing to enter someone else’s house. They are willing to be rude. They want to see.

And that’s where I often fall short. I am following, I am keeping up with Jesus, but then I have to take a next step to talk to him about what I need. I need to feel exposed. I need to not defer to everyone else. I need to go boldly into where he is sitting.

Suddenly, what had been shouting becomes a conversation.

“Do you believe I can do this?” Jesus asks.

“Yes, Lord,” they reply.

Simple, clear, respectful. Jesus asks and they answer the question he asks.

And so, he touches them, refers to their faith, and they can see.

I wonder if I miss healing, of eyes, perhaps, but certainly of heart, because I don’t go into the house and listen. And then say yes.

Posted in commands, suffering | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,

Sometimes you have to reach out.

April 18, 2009

Two women were healed. One was a child, one was an adult. One had lost blood, the other had lost life. One was well-off. The other had spent everything.

 

And Jesus healed them both.

 

The child couldn’t speak for herself. She was dead. Her dad, a synagogue leader, a highly spiritual lay person, came to Jesus on her behalf.

 

The adult couldn’t speak for herself. She was a woman. There was no one to speak for her, so she got close to Jesus herself.

 

The child was at the center of a tragedy, though she didn’t know it. There was a funeral happening already. Her dad was desperate, as only the parent of a child who has died can be. Though he knew the risk to his reputation for looking for Jesus, he didn’t care. He just wanted her back.

 

The adult was at the center of a tragedy, though only she knew it. She was ceremonially unclean. She knew the risk of touching anyone, knew that she would make them unclean as well. She didn’t care. She just wanted her life back.

 

The child couldn’t do anything. That’s why the dad said, “if you will come and touch her with your hand.”

The adult couldn’t expect anything. That’s why she said, “if only I can touch his coat.”

 

And Jesus healed them both.

 

I wish I knew exactly what we are supposed to do with these stories. I wish I knew how to tell when to reach out and when to have someone else intercede. I wish I knew why Jesus healed these two women and not many people I know.

 

But I do know this: Jesus wants to have people talk to him and to reach out for him and to believe that he can do the unbelievable.

Posted in questions | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,

authority

April 2, 2009

Sometimes, no matter what you say, people get it wrong.

All Jesus was trying to do was help. All he was doing was trying to be accurate. All he was trying to do was explain why he had, when a man was brought for healing, forgiven the man’s sins.

The teachers of the law, when they heard him forgive the man’s sins, thought “this man is blaspheming.”

They thought it. Didn’t say it, thought it.

And Jesus turned and talked to them. Asked them why they “entertained evil thoughts in their hearts.”

(That is a lesson itself, by the way. They must have had the thought, invited it in, given it a seat, served it coffee, let it stay for awhile. I understand the process quite well.)

And then, Jesus says

Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…. [Matthew 9:5-6]

And then he turns and tells the man to get up and go home.

It is a marvelous way to prove your authority. To say you are forgiven and then to say get up and walk. If you can do the latter, you likely can do the former.

But what did the people think? They were impressed that God had “given such authority to men.”

What?

The people had heard Jesus talk about the Son of Man having authority. They watched Jesus heal. They figured that God was now giving humans the authority to heal.

It feels wrong. We think that they must be diminishing Jesus, looking at him as only a man. And that part is wrong, of course, but they were actually right.

Because through Jesus, we have the authority.

Posted in forgiving | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,

word of mouth

January 30, 2009

[Matthew 4:23-25]

I’ve started reading about word of mouth marketing. I think that it’s helpful to understand how to get people talking about what you are offering. If you put up a billboard or run an advertising campaign or mail something to a thousand houses, that is you talking about you. And while talking about yourself can be helpful in providing information, it isn’t nearly as compelling as other people talking about you.

Jesus was teaching and preaching and healing. News about him spread. It went north. It went east. It went south. People were coming from all around to get healed. And to get free.

The news was all by word of mouth. People were talking about what Jesus was doing and saying. And everyone wanted to come to him.

What was the secret? Why did everyone talk about him with such effectiveness that people came from everywhere?

He said and did what people needed.

The people that were coming had no hope for any other solution for their sicknesses. They had no money to afford what care existed. They had no options.

When there aren’t any other options, when there isn’t any reason for hope, the words of Jesus, or more importantly, the actions of Jesus, are incredibly inviting. We go to where we think there will be some healing, some hope.

We often think that our job as Christ followers is to talk other people into thinking that they have holes in their hearts. What was clear from this part of Jesus’s ministry was that people who have holes in their hearts and lives actually go looking for Jesus.

Maybe our job isn’t to convince people of how much they hurt. Maybe it’s to talk about our own story of healing. And that’s word of mouth.

Posted in telling | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , ,