Teaching through miracles [2] - Important Features of the Healing Miracles
In the last article I said we would next look at other examples of how
Jesus used miracles as opportunities to teach important lessons. In this
article we will continue to look at some features of Jesus’ healings which
stand out in the Gospels.
IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THE HEALING MIRACLES
One important feature of Jesus’ healings is that there was no one
method of healing people.
· Some were healed by
a touch
· some with only words
· some were healed without
Jesus even being present
· one blind man was healed
after Jesus made a paste from mud while other blind people were healed
without this. By looking closely at some of these healings we learn
some interesting things about Jesus Himself.
1. Jesus
reached out to people at their point of need.
Under Jewish law lepers were to be isolated from the rest of the community.
Being a contagious disease there were good reasons for this law. The isolation
affected every aspect of life and sufferers of the disease were excluded
from worshipping at the Temple or in local synagogues, and from family
and community life in general. Some synagogues even had a little room
attached on the side with a small opening high up. Lepers could go into
this room and hear the synagogue service through the opening
but could not see it or participate in any way. While this was
designed to allow them to have some kind of religious experience, it probably
heightened their sense of isolation. Lepers often formed their own
groups living outside cities. It was a devastating illness, not only for
its physical symptoms but for the isolation from friends, family and community
which was the result. The Jewish Rabbis had made a rule that a leper was
not to approach anyone within 4 cubits (approximately 2 metres, or 6 feet).
People would have been afraid of lepers – afraid that they too might contract
the disease and suffer all the terrible consequences. People would not
have gone near them and avoided touching them at any cost. One commentator
has written: “No other disease reduces a human being for so many years
to so hideous a wreck.” In Luke 5:12 we read of a man who was “covered
with leprosy”. This appears to be a technical term describing an aggravated
case of the worst degree (you might know that Luke was a medical practitioner
and often described sicknesses using medical terms). He appealed
to Jesus “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean”. All three
of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke are called ‘synoptic’
because they are similar) record this incident and mention that
he asked to be “clean” not “healed”, probably because the isolation of
being ‘unclean’ was more unbearable than the physical symptoms of the
disease itself. This emphasises the terrible loneliness associated with
this disease. All the Gospel writers then record that “Jesus reached
out His hand and touched the man” (Matt 8:3; Mark 1:41; Luke 5:13). They
don’t say merely that “Jesus touched him”, but providing the added detail
that “He reached out” lets us know that the leper was keeping his distance
but that Jesus broke through that barrier and intentionally
did something that perhaps no one else would dream off doing. Here was
a man who probably hadn’t felt the touch of another person for a long
time, and Jesus reaches out to meet him at that point of need.
We can almost hear the gasps of alarm from others around them as Jesus
did the unthinkable. Imagine – the first human touch he had felt in so
long, and it was to change his life forever. Not only was he healed immediately
of his terrible disease, he could now be restored to his family and community.
There is a similar example in Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48 of a woman
who had a condition which made her unclean under Jewish law. The nature
of her ‘uncleanness’ meant she could still live in her own home, but anyone
who drank from the same cup or sat in the same chair would also become
unclean for the remainder of the day and then have to undergo a ‘purification’
ritual. After a period of time it would have become more and more inconvenient
for people to visit her regularly and she too would possibly have become
increasingly isolated and lonely. In this particular case Mark
tells us that “she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors
and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse”
(verse 26). On the other hand Luke, who was a doctor, simply tells us
that “no one could heal her” (verse 43). Here is a little insight into
the human aspect of the inspiration of the Scriptures
as Mark tells us what he thought of the doctors who took all her money
while her condition worsened, while Dr Luke gives a different perspective
as a member of the profession which was unable to help. As a result
of her ‘uncleanness’ any person this woman touched would also have become
unclean. This meant she could not go out to places where there would be
crowds (such as the market) for fear that she accidentally touched someone.
The story which follows is a remarkable example of faith as the sick woman
goes to great lengths to touch Jesus. The fact that she came up behind
Him in the crowd and wanted only to touch Him discreetly, and then tried
to slip away unnoticed, hints at the likelihood that she wanted to avoid
being seen in a crowd by anyone who knew her (and knew she shouldn’t be
there because of her ‘unclean’ condition). Her faith was great because
she believed all she had to do was to touch the Lord, without Him even
knowing, and she could be healed. What follows is amazing. Jesus asked
“who touched me?” His disciples immediately pointed out that this was
a strange question because they were in a crowd and many people were brushing
against Him. But Jesus knew that someone had deliberately
touched Him – He was able to recognize when He was in the presence of
faith. Mark tells us that “Jesus kept looking around to see who had done
it” (verse 32). This tells us that He searched for her, determined not
to let this faith go unnoticed and unrewarded. I believe there are at
least three reasons why He did this:
1. This kind of faith was rare, and
Jesus wanted her to be an example to others. In fact, we read sometime
later that “people brought all their sick to him and begged him
to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched
him were healed.” (Matthew 14:35-36). I am sure that the story of what
this woman had done had spread, and others were encouraged to follow her
example of faith.
2. It was important that she
tell her testimony. At first she came “trembling at His feet” but after
telling her story she was able to “go in peace” (Luke 8:47-48). It’s important
to share our testimony about what Jesus has done for us, because it reinforces
our faith and gives others something that they can relate to.
3. Because she had suffered this condition
for so long (12 years) it’s possible that other people might have been
skeptical or unconvinced if she’d told them later that she was now well.
In order for her life to become normal again it was important that everyone
know that she was cured. Jesus’ healings are complete and He
does more than we expect. Not only did He cure her physical condition,
He also ensured that everyone knew of it so that she would no longer be
isolated and lonely.
Jesus then said she was " freed from suffering" (Mark 5:29,34).
I think this means that she had discovered that faith is the key
to freedom: " your faith has healed you.
Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." She was " free"
from suffering because it no longer had any hold over her. Faith enables
us to be released from whatever holds us in bondage.
One last point about this story: Matthew and Luke both tell us that this
woman had suffered this condition for twelve years and
they both tell us that this happened while Jesus was on his way to heal
the daughter of the synagogue ruler who was twelve years old.
When the Gospel writers give us details of this nature it is almost always
for a good reason and I’m certain that we are meant to notice a connection.
Perhaps you will be able to think of a reason why Mark and Luke make this
point about the age of the little girl and the length of time the woman
suffered from her sickness. Here are some things to consider:
· The sick woman was
cut off from attending the synagogue at about the same time as the synagogue
ruler (Jairus) was celebrating the birth of a daughter. Perhaps Jairus
was the synagogue ruler at the time who had to make the decision that
she was not allowed to attend meetings there. The woman was mourning being
cut off from religious life, while Jairus was celebrating a new life.
· The sick woman was
healed, and therefore ‘made clean’ and allowed back into the synagogue,
at the same time as Jairus was losing his daughter. She was celebrating
her new life at the same time as Jairus was mourning the loss
of a life.
· The synagogue, and
the Jewish law, was unable to help either of them in their greatest needs.
· Only Jesus could bring
life and freedom into their lives. What Jesus was able to do for them
both stands in contrast to what the synagogue was unable to do for either.
In the next article in this series I will look at some more features
of Jesus’ miracles.
