Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.
Healing
The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
So, they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So, he began teaching them many things...
After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once, and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was. Wherever he went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed. – Mark 6:30-34; 53-56 (NLT)
Here are some things that jumped out at me this week related to the above text:
Jesus had compassion. When we look at Jesus, we see a whole lot of God reflected. A dominant trait we see is love. In this passage, we find Jesus and the disciples tired and needing rest, yet the crowds clamor for more. We know that Jesus practiced balance and self-care, which he was attempting to achieve in this story. It wasn’t going to happen quite yet. What do we see in Jesus? Not anger, not disdain, not indifference. We see compassion. The Greek word means to be deeply moved. Not a surfacy, lightweight pity. This came from his gut. He felt them. This is true of God. God is connected to everyone and everything in creation. When we hurt, God feels it. Because God loves us, God also acts in loving ways as much as possible.
Jesus taught and healed. Not only does Jesus feel compassion, but Jesus also does something in response. The response was to love them right where they were. I usually separate and differentiate his teaching ministry from his healing ministry. I think that may be a mistake. Sometimes our worldview – which is informed or at least includes our theology – can be very damaging, causing pain in ourselves and others. I’ve known people who have done terrible things while feeling completely justified by their theological reasoning and biblical proof texting. I’ve known people who have been crippled by a theology that left them feeling very alone, judged, and utterly hopeless. I’ve known people who have walked away from God because their theological framework couldn’t adequately handle life’s toughest questions, and ultimately led to the conclusion that God doesn’t exist or is such a fickle jerk that God is not worth knowing or following. So, I wonder what heals more for longer, restoring sight to blind eyes or providing people with a new vision of God and life?
People believed. People believed that Jesus – and the Spirit of God at work in him – was loving and kind. That is a big first step in faith. What do you believe is the primary nature of God? Is God truly loving? The people apparently believed so. I think this is a very important first thing to consider: do you believe God is primarily known by love and loves you? Yet believing isn’t simply mental ascent. The kind of belief that we see here is the same kind of belief we see in Jesus. Jesus saw the needs of the people (intellectual understanding), had compassion (he was deeply, emotionally affected), and he responded with teaching and healing (action). Similarly, the people recognized that Jesus offered liberating insight and healing capacity that they needed (intellectual clarity), were aware of their desperation for it (deeply, emotionally moved), and they got themselves where they needed to be (action). God is always loving and always working in loving ways to bring shalom (well-being, deep peace and harmony) into the world. Yet God cannot singlehandedly heal anybody – healing of all kinds requires cooperation on the part of all involved. Sometimes our willingness is enough to tip the scales toward healing. Sometimes there are other variables out of our control – and God’s – that restrict healing.
Pain and Prayer. When we are in pain, prayer is effective.When we pray, we are opened up to God in powerful ways.Because we are more connected to everything than we can possibly imagine, we do not fully realize what that simple act of praying does to impact everything else, giving God more to work with.It minimum, our prayer serves our relationship with God who is our strength and source of love, life, and hope.And I believe myriad forms of healing follow.