Jesus the Healer: The Healing Place

You need a village, if only for the pleasure of leaving it.  ~Cesare Pavese

Welcome dear friend, to a series on the healing stories of Jesus. The root of the word healing in New Testament Greek, sozo, is the same as that of salvation and wholeness.  (UM Book of Worship) 

I invite you to enter into a time of Lectio Divina, deep prayer with scripture, as we explore one of the healing stories of Jesus.  Gather your journal if you have one, your bible and something to write with or simply use your computer, I've provided everything you need.

There are several really interesting, out of the ordinary, turns in this little healing story.  People bring a blind man to Jesus.  The first thing Jesus does is take the man by the hand and out of the village.  So what is wrong with the village?  In leaving the village, Jesus becomes the Healing Place.  Where he is, healing happens.  Next, Jesus spits on the man’s eyes.  How strange is that?   It is very strange because the spit doesn’t do the trick.  He is healed but not completely.   No more spit, but Jesus touches the man a second time.  Finally, he is healed but Jesus warns him not to go back to the village on his way home!  I wonder why?  Where does he live if not in the village?  What is wrong with the village?   

We’ll never know why Jesus didn’t want the healed man to return to the village.   This reminds me of Lot’s wife who was told not to look back at Sodom as it burned but she couldn’t resist and was turned into a pillar of salt.  Sometimes, we retreat into the past when we can’t handle our present.  Perhaps the man needed to be free of his past.  Sometimes, people won’t allow us to move on.  Perhaps the man needed to move on.  How fortunate was he to have run into the Healing Place along the way!

Take a moment to begin with a Breath Prayer.

Breathing in ... Loving Jesus
Breathing out ... You are my Healing Place 

Repeat your breath prayer until you feel relaxed and centered

Pray for illumination of the text, use this one or pray what emerges from within you:   Loving Jesus, open my heart to your word and bring me into the Healing Place through my meditation.   Amen.

1.  Lectio/Read:   Mark 8:22-26 (NET)

As you read, perhaps there is a word or phrase that will intrigue you as it did me.  What questions do you have?  Pay attention to the way Jesus lovingly treats this blind man.  What do you notice?  Who in the story is God drawing your attention to, what word or phrase is calling you?  Simply sit with your person, your word or phrase and allow yourself to rest in the questions that are emerging for you. 

Then they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Jesus and asked him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and brought him outside of the village. Then he spit on his eyes, placed his hands on his eyes and asked, “Do you see anything?” Regaining his sight he said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.” Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again. And he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”

"RossanoGospels - Healing of blindman" by 6th century anonymous - Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

2. Meditatio/Meditation 

Read the text a second time.  You may find that the energy is coming from the same place in the text, but you may also find that another word, image or emotion has become more alive with meaning.  Pay attention to the energy and where it is emerging for you.  Consider how it illuminates your life right now.  Where is the Healing Place that God is offer you?  How does Jesus touch you?   Take your word or a phrase, image or emotion and write freely in your journal or on your computer.   Don't think about what you are writing, just let God lead you deeper into the Healing Place.

3. Oratio/Pray  

Read the text a third time.  Then read your own writing if you wrote anything.  Are there any connections you can make between what you read and the writing that flowed from your reading?  How do you respond to how God is calling you?   How does this passage call upon you to enter into a Healing Place in your life ... outside the village, the influence of others?   What do you want to say to God about what you are hearing?  Take a moment to write again in your journal or on your computer as a prayer in response to what you have heard.  

 

4. Contemplatio/Contemplation  

Take a moment to pause.  Allow your breath prayer to emerge again.  You can use the same one from the beginning or perhaps a new one will emerge for you.  As you continue to pray, let the words fade away into silence. Spend time simply "be"ing with God. 

Breathing in ... Loving Jesus

Breathing out ... You are my Healing Place

Repeat your breath prayer until it fades into silence ...  

Allow your experience of praying with this healing story of Jesus to come to a close when you are ready to move on.  Let the Spirit lead you and guide you into the presence of God as you engage your life anew. 

Close with a prayer to send yourself into the world, use this one or pray what emerges from within you: Loving Jesus, you are my healing place even though today I am not quite sure what that means.  As I go into the world as your disciple, help me be a healing space for others as you were.  Amen.