Jesus the Healer: The Holy One of God

Create in me a clean heart, O God

and put a new and right spirit within me.  Psalm 51:10

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.

We don’t think about people being filled with unclean spirits or possessed by demons much these days unless we are watching too many scary movies.  Today we understand that people who were presented in Jesus stories as having been possessed may have simply been the victim of mental illness.   Today there are many people who have varying degrees of mental illness and many of those persons are high functioning people, having learned strategies to cope with life.  On the other hand, many more are homeless or in prison, having been unable to find that way of coping with life. 

In addition to mental illness, many people today suffer from bondage to materialism, busy-ness and high stress jobs that keep us too busy to breathe or pause for a time of Sabbath.  Honestly, sometimes I feel I am a slave to my calendar … but that is simply because I think I can do more that I really can.  I wind up being torn in many directions without the ability to make a choice … so I try to choose it all!

In our passage this week, the man was confronted by Jesus presence before Jesus even noticed him.   And the demons within him responded with fear and angst.  Oh, how I wish sometimes someone would speak to me with authority and free me from my addiction to work!    

Take a moment to begin with a Breath Prayer.

Breathing in ... Holy One of God
Breathing out ... Free me from the chaos of life 

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 set me free.  Help me to see why I cannot let go of the chaos of my life.   Amen.

1.  Lectio/Read:   Mark 1:21-28 (NET)

Think about your life and anything that causes you to be burdened or stressed.  Is there anything that you need to be set free from?  As you read, perhaps there is a word or phrase that will speak freedom to you.  What would freedom look like to you?   Pay attention to the way Jesus speaks with authority.  Can you hear Jesus speaking with authority into your life?  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 went to Capernaum. When the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people there were amazed by his teaching, because he taught them like one who had authority, not like the experts in the law. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him: “Silence! Come out of him!” After throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed so that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.” So the news about him spread quickly throughout all the region around Galilee.

James Tissot [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons [located in Brooklyn Museum]

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.  Where is God calling your attention?  What does God want you to let go of in order to be more present to your life?  Consider how this passage illuminates your life right now.    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.  Let God speak with authority to you and take God’s word to your heart.

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 make changes in your life.  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 freedom will call you into a new way of breathing in the peace of God.  As you continue to pray, let the words fade away into silence. Spend time simply "be"ing with God. 

Breathing in ... Holy One of God

Breathing out ... Let me rest in your authority

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: Holy One of God, sometimes I feel possessed by all of the demands and expectations from people in my life and I am overwhelmed.  Help me to turn to you in those moment and allow you to set me free with authority.   Amen.