Matthew 4:12-25 (especially 23-25)
“Jesus the Healer”
One of the major tasks of the Epiphany season is to continually reveal Christ. Who is this child born in Bethlehem? Who is this man, baptized by John? What is his true identity, and what is his mission? It’s as if we received the gift on Christmas, but we now spend weeks unwrapping it, appreciating it, and learning all about it.
Today, in our Gospel reading, especially the last few verses, we see Jesus as a great healer.
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
It is also our annual Life Sunday emphasis, and so I’ll tie in some of those thoughts as well.
We Christians need healing, just like every human in this sinful, fallen world. We are just as subject to the physical, bodily effects of sin as the next person. The problem of illness and disease is a problem that goes back to the garden and the Fall. It is, in a sense, death encroaching in upon us in various ways. Just as Adam and Eve were told the day they ate of the forbidden fruit, they would die – and they did, at least spiritually – but they didn’t keel over and die that very day, physically. But nonetheless death had its claws in them, and it wouldn’t let go. Adam lived 930 years – but he who came from the ground returned to it, as the Word of God declared. You are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Death has its claws in you, too, or at least in your fallen, sinful nature. Unless Jesus comes first, your flesh will go the way of Adam, and all flesh, and something or other will end your life. You will die. To dust you, too, will return. The wages of sin come due.
But yet in another sense, you will never die. For you are in Christ. And though your body will break down and cease operations, you, the essence of you – the spirit – will be with the Lord in paradise, and at rest. And on the last day, that body will be resurrected and all of us in Christ will never see death again. God is the giver of life, and in Jesus Christ he makes all things new. In Jesus, who died for us all – he brings new and everlasting life. We have a future hope, and never forget it, Christian!
But what about today? What about my aches and pains? What about this disease and that – my loved one who is sick, my aging parents who won’t ever be the same? Where is God in all of this suffering? Where is Jesus? Isn’t he the healer? Let’s treat some of these questions head on.
Jesus was a great healer, and part of the point of all that healing was as a sign that he was the Messiah. Remember when John’s disciples came asking, “Are you the one, or shall we seek another?” Jesus told them to report to John what they saw: His healing credentials were part of the proof that he is, in fact, the one, the Christ:
And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. (Luke 7:22)
Well you might say, “Well that’s good and well for them, but we already know Jesus is the Messiah.” Ah, but see, his healings also demonstrate his heart. Time and again the Gospels tell us he had compassion on the sick. His heart went out to those who are suffering. He cared deeply for them.
And Jesus also cares about life. He who wept at the grave of Lazarus is not indifferent to death. He does not desire the death of the wicked. He cares especially for the weak and the lowly, the aged and the unborn, those whose lives are precarious – the widow and the orphan – and also the humble poor. His desire is always for life, spiritual and physical, abundant and eternal.
And this also shows us his inclination toward you. Jesus the healer knows your hurts. He cares about them. He is not indifferent to human suffering. Nor is he a cruel God who makes us suffer for his own amusement. He wants us to have life, and have it abundantly. He wants us to be whole, and healed, and healthy and well.
The truth is, he does heal. The human body itself, God’s own creation, has an amazing ability to heal itself. Thanks be to God. He also provides medicines and sends and sends us healers – doctors, nurses, all manner of helpers who use their knowledge and skills to benefit us. They are his agents for our good health. Thanks be to God. And sometimes, yes, God even brings us miraculous healing that modern medicine and biology cannot explain. It’s not unheard of, and it does happen. Thanks be to God.
It would be wrong of us, however, to put God to the test. Faith healers of all manner have come along and done terrible damage to people’s faith with their false promises and false hopes. “You’re not being healed because your faith isn’t strong enough” is among the most pernicious of lies.
It would also be wrong of us to doubt his goodness or his love for us if he doesn’t provide a healing of this or that sort. He answers all our prayers, in his time, and in his way, and according to his will. But his particular will in this is not revealed to us.
Sometimes, God’s will is to heal us in this earthly life. But sometimes, for whatever reason that is his alone, he allows us to suffer, and eventually even to die.
For the Christian, this is not the end of the story. It is not a deal-breaker. It doesn’t make us turn away from God or consider him unloving and cruel.
For in death we see the gate to eternal life. Death has no sting for us who are in Christ. It has no ultimate power. It is a temporary sleep and we will awake more surely than the sun will rise tomorrow. And even while we wait for that day, we rest in peace knowing we are with Jesus.
But that still leaves the question of suffering here on earth. That still leaves us with our aches and pains and sorrows and tribulations. What do we do with them?
We suffer with patience and endurance. We look for the good in all things. We cling to the promises of God, and seek the comfort he does afford even in our suffering. Consider:
Sickness and disease can humble us. They can break down our prideful tendencies to resist God’s goodness. God can work through these things to prompt repentance. Think of Paul’s thorn-in-the-flesh, which he prayed for God to remove, but, no. It kept him humble. Paul was even thankful for it.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12:8-10)
When I am weak, I am strong? It sounds like nonsense to the world. But to us who are in Christ – it rings true. In our weakness we turn to God who is our ultimate and only strength. We see his goodness in rich and powerful ways. And we learn to rely on him ever more deeply and profoundly.
And suffering and sickness also provide us with an opportunity to love our neighbor. Fulfilling the 5th Commandment, we can help and support him in every physical need.
Jesus Christ has suffered for us, even unto death. And he promises us abundant life in him. He doesn’t just treat the symptoms of death and disease, he strikes at the very cause – sin. He obliterates sin and puts it to death at his crucifixion. And so what is left for us, but forgiveness, life and salvation in him?
If we are healed – thanks be to God. If we must suffer – thanks be to God. For even in our sufferings he works good. And he does point us to that day, that final healing, when all sorrow is gone and every tear is wiped from our eyes. When the perfect is revealed, when death is finally swallowed up in victory, and when life – glorious, eternal life – is revealed to us and for us and in us forever. That life which is already ours in Jesus Christ. May God, who has begun this good work in you, bring it to completion at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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