What convicts you about Jesus' role as a healer? How is healing a spiritual practice, and what does Jesus' example teach us as healers?
Healing to me means helping people, whether they be suffering physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, etc. And healing others is a conscious choice I must make everyday. Sometimes we can get so bogged down in our own lives and problems, that we fail to see how we can be of service to others. But Jesus chose, and so can we. This passage also shows me that I shouldn't be motivated to heal and help others for personal gain or recognition. The choice I make to heal must come from within, from my own source of intrinsic motivation and love for others.- Stephanie Cantu, Senior
While Jesus' example of healing the leper gives us a concrete and physical example of healing, it also serves as an example of spiritual healing. Jesus' miracle took away the leper's pain, but it also had to provide a boost to his faith, his emotions, and his sense of self-worth. I'm assuming that many of us don't exactly possess the powers of conducting miracles, so spiritual healing is a way that we can practice and share our faith. Feeding the hungry, helping the sick, or just simply carrying on a friendly conversation with a stranger are all ways that we could participate in the practice of healing. Such simple tasks can have a huge influence on a person, and I believe that by making someone's day just a little bit better, we are practicing our faith through healing. Jesus' example teaches us that healing should be a priority in our lives, and how we apply this lesson is up to us.
- Drew Gerdes, Sophomore
In this scripture, the leper asks Jesus, if He is willing, to cleanse him. Jesus does choose to make the leper clean and touches him. Since Jesus touched the leper, He is now considered unclean in the eyes of society. I think this shows us that healing isn't simply physical healing, but stems from a spiritual root. In order to be healed, the leper turned to Jesus and asked to be healed. That's kinda like turning to Jesus in our lives when we realize we are insufficient. We can't heal ourselves, just like we can't grant ourselves salvation. Jesus then touches the leper and becomes unclean. Or, in a spiritual sense, Jesus came to earth, making himself human, and thus unclean. He did this in order to heal us, in order to give us life. This is important when considering our roles as healers. We need to remember that healing, while it can refer to a physical practice, is also spiritual in nature. When we act as healers we are proclaiming the word of God.
- Amanda Nelson, Junior
Haha, so, I really like this verse... Bart Ehrman, a contextual critic, provides evidence that scribes edited out Jesus getting mad at the leper after he asked him help. The part about "moved with pity" actually read "moved with anger", which really changes the entire meaning of the verse.
For me, it's not about the leper asking for help. It's about the manner in which the leper asks,"‘If you choose, you can make me clean." The leper is trying to put the ball in the Lord's court--
LEPER: You know... if you like, if you got time, I mean, if it's not too much trouble... like I understand if you have errands, like feeding the hungry, or having visions on mountains or such, but, uuuuuuhhhh... Hey man, could you MAYBE heal me? I'm mean, it's ok if you don't, but... it's all up to you, I'm pretty much powerless and helpless sod, and, welllll... I can't do anything for myself.
JESUS (retorting back irately): WELL DUH! OF COURSE I'M GOING TO HEAL YOU!!! I'm Jesus, son of GOD. Look, it's a given that I'm going to do everything I can to help you, and I will listen and act upon your requests, but HOLY SHAWARMA ON A SCHTICK! You're made in the Image of God, so YOU'RE NOT POWERLESS!!!
So what convicts me? Jesus loves me. He will do anything for me regardless of my behavior. But He doesn't want me to act like a helpless little snot either.
Oh yeah... and the leper, after the fact, still didn't do anything that Jesus instructed.
Metaphor anyone?
- Caleb Braley, Senior
I guess I missed the leper discussion; I like Caleb's point of view on the topic though. Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if Christianity was a quiet thing like Jesus seemed to want? What if the word of God was passed in peoples homes and in dark corners rather than in cathedrals or gymnasiums with spotlights on booming preachers?- Jeff Stump, Sophomore
Healing is an interesting topic for me to think about because I want to be a doctor one day. I do think that healing can happen in more than a physical way, and even that physical healing is one of the least important ways to heal. After all, there are countless stories of hope where people realize what life is all about when they don’t heal. Like a man losing his legs and realizing he needs Jesus more than legs. Kind of raw, but I hope you get the idea.
I think that this passage is analogous to our salvation. All it takes is one action by God and we are clean of whatever sins we commit or whatever way we haven’t followed him, but we often doubt His ability. Things get so bad and screwed up in our lives—even if it’s not visible on the outside—that we wonder if we should even bother asking. Jesus wants us to know from this passage that He will choose to heal us, no matter what we bring before Him. That is a beautiful and powerful truth to me. And while the leper didn’t follow Jesus’ instructions, I can understand his reaction. He is realizing the mercy God chose to show us and is completely overwhelmed with joy and wonder. This is what we should feel every time we think about God’s forgiveness and love. He has the power to heal us completely! How could that not get you excited?
With that said, I think we play a critical role in healing on earth. We have the responsibility of bringing that healing to others. We aren’t its creators, but I believe we are channels through which God often delivers it. There’s way too many ways to do this to list them here, but I’ve decided I want to bring healing through helping people physically heal. I hope that will open the door for other ways of healing too. I realize everyone isn’t called to that particular way of healing, but I think everyone is called to heal in some way. You just have to figure out how you are going to best do that!
- Scott Saunders, Junior
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