Matthew 8:1-17
When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’
When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.’ And he said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.
When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.’
We’re continuing in our “Hand of the Lord” series with this passage from Matthew that involves three back-to-back healing stories. Both the leper and Peter’s mother-in-law were afflicted, and it only took a touch from Jesus to heal their affliction. The centurion’s servant didn’t even need a touch, only Jesus to speak healing from afar. But Jesus’ healing hands helped many people throughout scripture. Sickness is an unfortunate part of life. As miraculous as our bodies are, they are not impervious to sickness. They are fragile vessels. And they wear down over time. They aren’t meant to last forever, only a brief time. They need a significant amount of upkeep and repair along the way. Our bodies can do a lot, carry us a long way, but only if we are careful with them. We have to properly feed them and exercise them and clean them and protect them. And even then, they aren’t fully protected from sickness. Sickness can afflict anyone at any time. Sickness can have different effects on people. Sickness is simply an irregular and unfair part of life.
I find it particularly ironic how sickness develops over time as we develop and grow. What afflicted people two thousand years ago doesn’t afflict people today. Our bodies developed immunities over that time as new medicines and vaccines were discovered and created. You’d think that we could get rid of sickness all together but that just isn’t the case. No, sickness just adapts as we adapt. Sickness learns how to get around our immune systems and we’re left scrambling to treat it in new and clever ways. Sickness is a clever part of life, and I suspect it will always be with us in this world. And because of this, we will always need the healing hands of Jesus. Only Jesus knows how to truly heal us of our sicknesses. Many people like to attribute our sin to our sickness, but I don’t think it’s that easy. I think this world is a terribly complex world with lots of forces at work. I don’t think God intended our bodies to be impervious to sickness. I think sickness has a purpose in this life experience and I just haven’t figured it out. Much like death, I tend to consider sickness as necessary to draw us closer to God and deepen our relationship with him. But I also wonder if there is a better way to draw us closer and deepen our relationships. Surely love would be much more effective to draw us closer! But sadly, many people don’t understand love and how to give it and/or receive it. That’s a discussion for a different day…
Because sickness develops as we develop, there will always be times when our defenses are down. There will always be times when we’ll need extra help manning the defenses. That’s where Jesus comes into play. I said earlier that we will always need the healing hands of Jesus because there will always be times when science and medicine will need to catch up to offer adequate protection. In those times we must rely on Jesus’ loving and tender hands of healing. Jesus understands the forces of this world better than we do. Jesus understands sickness better than we do and is always one step ahead of it. We ought to trust him as the leper and the centurion and Peter did. Jesus understands better and is generous in his healing.
As we continue on our Lenten journey, let us trust in Jesus’ healing hands more. Let us give thanks that they know best how to heal us. Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
