Devotional Thoughts: Jesus and healing

Am looking at Matthew 20:29-34 this morning.

Jesus is faced with the usual huge crowds and two blind men call out to him, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

Jesus notices them and says, "What do you want me to do?"

They say, "We want to see!"

Jesus healed them and they started to follow Jesus.

This is part of what Jesus did while on this earth.

Go all the way back to Matthew 4:23 when Jesus started to travel around Palestine. He was described as doing three things: (1) teaching in the syngogues (and later more or less where ever there was a crowd), (2) preaching the good news of the kingdom and (3) healing.

Healing is the most straightforward. Blind can see again. Lame can walk again.

But humans have other needs besides the physical and medical and Jesus addressed them.

What is teaching?

Jesus explaining how to live a right life. He would draw upon the Hebrew Scriptures which all Jews would have some familiarity and give its meaning. The Sermon on the Mount would be an example of this.

What is preaching the Kingdom?

God is the King and many of Jesus' parables are on this theme. Jesus would often say, "The Kingdom of heaven is like ... "

This is good news for those who want a relationship with God. Jesus points the way to that relationship.

One challenge in America today is that there isn't universal acceptance of the morality described by Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. As a Christian, I want to live a right life to please God and so others can have an example. In our world today, my life might be the only "Bible" some people will see. That is a humbling position to be in because I know I'm a flawed person. Nonetheless, it is my goal to live a good life pleasing to God and beneficial to those around me.

Another challenge is the concept of god. All the polls say Americans believe in god. But what is this god that people claim to believe in?

I suppose there are two kinds of "god" that people might believe in. One type is the cosmic clockmaker. God created the universe and has left the room. This kind of god would be unknowable and we are left on our own.

The other kind of god would be a cosmic creator as well but also concerned with contact with the creatures in that creation. This kind of god would be knowable to some extent. Christianity describes this type of God. In Christian belief, God has been finding different ways for us to know God.

And the most direct intervention by this God was the sending of Jesus to teach, preach and heal.

Lord, help me to live my life so that my actions and words point to Jesus. Help me to be like Jesus such that my actions and words "teach" about the right way to live, that my actions and words "preach" about the good news that we can know God and that my actions and words would "heal" the wounds and meets the needs of those you bring into my life.