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.

 


previous page table of contents next page