2-2-21 - Many Were Cured

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Capernaum, where Jesus made his home, could be a tough place for him. Too many people knew about him, too many wanted some of what he was giving out. The story about the healing of the possessed man in the synagogue must have made the rounds – and maybe the tale of Peter’s mother-in-law’s instantaneous recovery also spread quickly. People knew where to find Jesus, and they weren’t shy about it:

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

What I find interesting is not that the “whole city” was gathered around the door. It’s that Mark says Jesus cured “many.” By the time Matthew and Luke get to this material, it's upgraded to “all” and “everyone he met.” The word “many” suggests that not everyone Jesus touched was cured.

The single biggest obstacle to people participating in the ministry of Christian healing, in my experience, is the fact that our prayers are not always answered in the way we desire. One big step of faith not met with “success” can be enough to stop some from taking a second. And so the church is deprived of one of its most powerful ways to demonstrate the transforming love of God, and individuals’ faith can grow weak from lack of exercise.

There can be obstacles to healing, things that must be addressed before a person can receive the healing love flowing toward them. As Agnes Sanford wrote so simply and memorably in her classic, The Healing Light, if we flick a light switch and the light doesn’t come on, we don’t conclude that electricity is impossible and doesn’t work. We look for a break in the current – in the bulb, in the wire, in the outlet, in the house itself.

Obstacles to healing can include a root cause that needs to be brought to the light - sometimes infirmity is a system’s response to trauma that has not been dealt with in a conscious way. When praying about long-term illness, it’s worth asking when it came on, and what happened 6-9 months before it did – or even earlier.Illness or injury can be the result of chronic shame or resentment, an inability to forgive someone else or receive forgiveness ourselves. That is a block that can be brought to the light and dealt with. Sometimes healing follows forgiveness.

There are also people who have become so accustomed to being sick, with the attendant diminished expectations and increased support and attention, that we can pray all we want; the person can't receive it until they're ready. This is not to suggest that it’s the sick person's "fault” when healing isn’t discernible – only that there are factors to look for and deal with. A lack of faith within a community, or among those offering prayer, can also be a barrier, as can conflict. Healing prayer is rarely a one-shot thing – it needs to be undertaken over time, asking questions.

If even Jesus did not cure everyone, we should not feel deficient if our “healing rate” is less than 100 percent. Let’s take this word “many” as encouragement to move forward in our faith, inviting God to release the healing stream in every situation where healing is needed.

And give thanks in advance - God's last word to us is "yes."

To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Next Sunday’s readings are here.  Water Daily is now a podcast! Look for it wherever you get your podcasts, and please subscribe.