Healing is Jesus
By The Right Revd Graham Dow
Matthew, chapter 8 verses 1 - 15
 |
|
First, Jesus is willing to heal
St Matthew has edited the two stories so as to emphasise that Jesus is completely willing to heal. In the fi rst story the man with leprosy kneels before him and says, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean’ (v. 2). ‘I am willing’, Jesus says (v. 3). In the second story the Roman army offi cer tells Jesus that his servant is paralysed; Jesus says, ‘I will come and heal him’ (v. 7). It is the repetition that makes the point. It is well known that Matthew had Mark’s account in front of him. He leaves out Mark’s phrase, ‘moved with compassion’ (or some manuscripts ‘moved with anger’). Matthew cuts straight through to the point he wants to make: ‘I am willing’. So the Scripture tells us plainly: Jesus is willing to heal. So it is today: Jesus loves to heal. No arm-twisting prayer is needed.
Secondly, there are no techniques
The difference in these two stories illustrates a far wider point. Throughout the Gospel Jesus heals in a great many ways: with a command, with touch, with hands laid on, with spittle, with clay, at a distance, telling a person to come forward or to stretch out their hand, or after sin has been forgiven. Clearly there is no technique. It is just Jesus meeting the person in need. If there is a unifying factor it is that Jesus chooses in each situation a way which will increase the faith both of the person being healed and of the bystanders. Yet, strikingly, he never sends someone away unhealed because they had insufficient faith. Given that there are no right techniques, it is nevertheless instructive to learn from what Jesus does here.
Jesus responds to an approach
In these two stories Jesus was approached by the one seeking help. As it happens, both were outside the community of the people of God: the one had leprosy and was therefore presumed to be under a curse. The other was a Gentile. But many inside the people of God also came to Jesus. Clearly we should not be afraid to approach Jesus for healing and in our churches we seek to respond to those who bring their needs to us and offer Jesus’ healing to them.
Jesus recognises and welcomes the person’s faith
The man with leprosy knew that Jesus had the power to heal him, ‘You can make me clean’. The issue was, was he willing? Would Jesus overturn the curse on him that the man believed his leprosy indicated? Jesus clearly does not want his willingness in any way to be doubted. ‘I am willing’. The focus in this story is on Jesus and his willingness rather than on the faith of the man with leprosy. In the second story, however, the focus is more on the faith of the Roman officer than on Jesus. The offi cer knows that he can issue any number of orders that will be obeyed. Yet he is not able to order a healing. He knows that Jesus can command such healing; he knows, therefore, how great is the authority Jesus has. ‘Lord, I don’t deserve to have you come to my house, just say the word and my servant will be healed’(v.8). He has understood the measure of Jesus’ authority and he comes humbly knowing that he deserves nothing. Jesus loves the man’s faith: ‘I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith’ (v.10). Faith is about recognising who Jesus is: the one with all authority. And in the face of any who might criticise him for giving God’s blessings to a Gentile, Jesus uses the man’s faith to illustrate how God’s people can enter ultimate darkness by not recognising Jesus as the one through whom the kingdom of heaven is found. Recognition of who Jesus is clearly lies at the heart of what God is looking for, though that does not mean that a full recognition has to come before healing is received.
The ways Jesus healed
First Jesus touched the man with leprosy. No one touched such
people. What a message of acceptance and care! And it increased the
man’s faith that Jesus was going to heal him. Touch is very
important, but not so as to violate a person’s space or dignity.
Then comes the shortest of prayers: ‘Be clean!’ (v.3). We will not be heard for our many words. This is a simple command. Apostles healed similarly with the addition only of ‘In the name of Jesus …’ (e.g.
Acts 3. 6). I encourage those who pray for healing to use short prayers
of request or to take the authority Jesus has given all disciples and
pray a simple command in his name. Then I urge keeping one’s eyes
open so as to watch the Spirit at work. We mustn’t feel that we
have to fi ll the space with more words. In the second story it is not
so much a prayer that heals as a pronouncement, ’Go, it will be done for you just as you believed it would’
(v.13). The conversation had already brought Jesus and the man’s
need together in the context of faith so that healing was taking place.
Jesus knew this in his spirit. For us, a pronouncement like this needs
enormous care. If it is not fulfi lled much damage is done. Only if we
are quite sure in the Holy Spirit that the healing is already done are
we able to use such a pronouncement and in the name of Jesus, (as in
Acts 9.34). Since I know that not everyone I pray for is healed, I
normally say, ‘Jesus wants to help you; let us see what Jesus will do for you as we pray.’
And the results? They were left to speak for themselves. The man with
leprosy was to follow the normal procedure for his healing to be
certified. There was no hype, no public announcement. So Jesus is very
willing to heal; and we are free to use a whole variety of ways, ways
with which we are comfortable, ways which build faith. As we practise
healing in Jesus’ name, lovely things happen.
About The Right Revd Graham Dow:
The Right Revd Graham Dow is Bishop of Carlisle. From 1981 to 1992
he was Vicar at Holy Trinity Coventry where he set up healing ministry
weekends. He has also written on the subject of healing and
deliverance.
