Transcript Jesus as Healer

Jesus as Healer
Pool of Bethsesda
Pool of Siloam
Nazareth
Theodotus Inscription
"Theodotus, (son) of Vettenus, priest and archisynagogos (ruler of the
synagogue), son of an archisynagogos, grandson of an
archisynagogos, built the synagogue for the reading of the law and the
teaching of the commandments, and the guest-chamber and the rooms
and the water installations for lodging for those needing them from
abroad, which his fathers, the elders and Simonides founded."
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Many scholars excise Jesus' healings from the gospels on the
assumption that these healing stories are legendary accretions
to the tradition, even though they are very numerous and form
an integral part of Jesus' identity. Often behind such a method
is the presupposition that the healing miracles reported by the
gospels are impossible. In their view, the historical Jesus did
not heal anyone, because to do so is beyond the realm of
historical possibility.
On the same presupposition, other scholars, while accepting the
gospels' portrayal of Jesus as healer, nevertheless interpret
Jesus' healings as psychosomatic in nature: Jesus had such an
impact on men and people that they were cured of their illness of
a psychological nature.
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Mark 2:12: And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and
went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and
were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like
this.”
Luke 5:26 They were all struck with astonishment and began
glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen
remarkable things today."
Luke 7:16: Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God,
saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has
visited His people!"
How did people respond to Jesus’ healings?
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Mark 5:30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power
proceeding from him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd
and said, "Who touched my garments?" 31 And his disciples said
to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you, and you say, 'Who
touched me?'" 32 And he looked around to see the woman who
had done this. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of
what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and
told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, "Daughter, your
faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your
affliction."
What does the fact that Jesus was aware of a power to heal tell
you about the experiential side of his healings?
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
General References
Luke 4:40: "And laying his hands on each one, he healed
them."
Matt 4:23: "And healing every disease and sickness
among the people."
Matt 8:16: "And he healed all the sick."
Matt 9:35: "And healing every disease and sickness."
Matt 12:15: "And he healed all their sick."
What do you learn about Jesus as healer from these general
statements?
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Examples of Healings Organized by Type
The gospel narratives in which Jesus heals are classified
form-critically as Miracle Stories.
The purpose of the creation and telling of Miracle Stories
was to present Jesus as compassionate and powerful to
the early church.
Typically, a Miracle Story begins with a description of the
situation, followed by the miracle, the results confirming
the miracle and the response of the onlookers.
It is interesting that in these healing narratives Jesus
does not always heal in the same way.
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Examples of Healings Organized by Type
Jesus healed by means of:
Direct Command
Mark 2:10: "He said to the paralytic, 11 ‘I tell you, get up,
take your mat and go home’. 12 He got up, took his mat
and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed
everyone and the praised God, saying, "We have never
seen anything like this!"
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Examples of Healings Organized by Type
Jesus healed by means of:
Touch
Mark 1:41: Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his
hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be
clean." 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was
cured.
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Examples of Healings Organized by Type
Jesus healed by means of:
By Being Touched
Mark 5:27: When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in
the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, "If I just
touch his garment, I will be healed." 29 Immediately her bleeding
stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned
around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
Mark 3:10: “For He had healed many, with the result that all those who
had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch him.”
Mark 6:56: “Wherever he entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they
were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring him that they
might just touch the tassel of his garment; and as many as touched it
were being cured.”
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Examples of Healings Organized by Type
Jesus healed by means of:
By Application of Secondary Means
Mark 7:33: After he took him aside, away from the crowd,
Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and
touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and
with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be
opened!"). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue
was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Jesus' Raising People from the Dead
John 11:38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.
It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39" Take
away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of
the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been
there four days." 40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if
you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took
away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I
thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always
hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing
here, that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he
had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come
out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped
with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to
them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Jesus' Giving Authority to his Disciples to Heal
Luke 9:1 And having called the twelve together, he gave
them power and authority over all the demons and to heal
diseases.
Mark 6:13 And they were casting out many demons and
were anointing with oil many sick people and healing
them.
Healing in the Ancient World
H.C. Kee, Medicine, Miracle, and Magic in New Testament Times
• "Medicine is a method of diagnosis of human ailments a
prescription for them based on combinations of theory about
and observation of the body, its functions and malfunctions."
• “It [miracle] embodies the claim that healing can be
accomplished through appeal to and subsequent action by the
gods, either directly or through a chosen intermediary agent."
• [Magic is] "a technique through word or act through which
a desired end is achieved, whether that ends lies in the
solution to the seeker's problem or in damage to the enemy
who caused the problem."
The Significance of Jesus’ Healings
Eschatological Context of Jesus' Healings
Luke 7:18 John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling
two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one
who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" 20 When
the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to
you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we
expect someone else?’" 21 At that very time Jesus cured many
who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to
many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, "Go
back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The
blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are
cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is
preached to the poor. 23 Blessed is the man who does not fall
away on account of me."
The Significance of Jesus’ Healings
Eschatological Context of Jesus' Healings
Isa 29:18: In that day the deaf will hear the words of the
scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind
will see. 19 Once more the humble will rejoice in Yahweh;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 35:5: Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the
ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a
deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth
in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
Isa 61:1: The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me, because
Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the
prisoners.
The Significance of Jesus’ Healings
Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521)
1 [for the heav]ens and the earth will listen to his Messiah, 2 [and
all] that is in them will not turn away from the holy precepts. 3 Be
encouraged, you who are seeking the Lord in his service [blank] 4
Will you not, perhaps, encounter the Lord in it, all those who hope
in their heart? 5 For the Lord will observe the devout, and call the
just by name, 6 and upon the poor he will place his spirit, and the
faithful he will renew with his strength. 7 For he will honor the
devout upon the throne of eternal Kingdom, 8 liberating the
captives, giving sight to the blind, straightening out the twisted. 9
Ever shall I cling to those who hope. In his mercy he will jud[ge,]
10 and from no one shall the fruit [of] good [deeds] be delayed, 11
and the Lord will perform marvelous acts such as have not
existed, just as he sa[id] 12 for he will heal the sick and will make
the dead live, he will proclaim good news to the poor 13 give
lavishly [to the need]y, lead the exiled and enrich the hungry.
The Significance of Jesus’ Healings
Healing and the Appearance of the Kingdom
Matthew 10:7: And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom
of Heaven has drawn near.” 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.
Luke 10:8: When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat
what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell
them, “The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.”
What is the connection between Jesus’ and the disciples’
healings and the Kingdom of God or Heaven?
The Significance of Jesus’ Healings
Jesus' Healings as Fulfillment of the Role of the Servant
Matt 8:16: When evening came, many who were demonpossessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits
with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what
was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our
infirmities and carried our diseases" (Isa 53:4). 18 When Jesus
saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other
side of the lake.
How are Jesus’ healings interpreted in Matthew’s gospel?
What might this imply about the identity of the servant?
Faith as Condition of Healing
Examples of Healing Conditional upon Faith
Mark 2:5 (The healing of a paralytic): "And Jesus seeing their faith said to
the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven'" (= Matt 9:2; Luke 5:20).
Mark 5:34 (The healing of the woman with the bleeding problem):
"And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in
peace and be healed of your affliction" (= Matt 9:22; Luke 8:48).
Mark 10:52 (The healing of blind beggar [Bartimaeus]): "And Jesus said
to him, 'Go; your faith has made you well'. Immediately he regained his
sight and began following Him on the road" (= Luke 18:42).
Luke 7:9-10 (The healing of the centurion's servant): "Now when Jesus
heard this, he marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was
following him, 'I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great
faith'. When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found
the slave in good health" (= Matt 8:10, 13).
Matt 9:29 (The healing of two blind men): "Then he touched their eyes,
saying, 'It shall be done to you according to your faith'."
Luke 17:19 (The cleansing of the ten lepers): "And he said to him,
'Stand up and go; your faith has made you well'."
Faith as Condition of Healing
Jesus' Inability to Heal because of Lack of Faith
Mark 6:1: Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown;
and his disciples followed him. 2 When the Sabbath came, he
began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were
astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and
what is this wisdom given to him, and such miracles as these
performed by his hands? 3 "Is not this the carpenter, the son of
Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
Are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4
Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his
hometown and among his own relatives and in his own
household." 5 And he could do no miracle there except that he
laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he
marveled at their unbelief.
How did the people from Jesus’ hometown respond to him?
What was the result? What does unbelief mean in this context?
Satanic Cause of Illness
Luke 13:10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the
synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled
by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not
straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her
forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your
infirmity." 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she
straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus
had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the
people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on
those days, not on the Sabbath." 15 The Lord answered him,
"You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox
or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then
should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has
kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath
day from what bound her?" 17 When he said this, all his
opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all
the wonderful things he was doing.