Jesus the Healer: The Healing Process

Just to know that healing is a mystery – that it’s complicated and not all that simple – should free us from any need to give simplistic answers to people who wonder why they are not totally healed.  ~ Francis Macnutt 

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 deep prayer with scripture, "Lectio Divina" 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.

When I read scripture I have the distinct impression that healing in the biblical sense is instantaneous.  Words like "immediately" are heard often, especially in the book of Mark.  Life becomes confusing to suffering people when they pray so fervently only to feel that their prayers have fallen on the floor before taking off to heaven.  At least that is how I feel when I take to heart what Jesus says, “Ask and you will receive.”   I think healing in the real life sense is much more complicated.  Healing IS a mystery.  More often our healing comes from physicians and medications, and slowly … that is, if doctors can find out what is wrong with us.  Further disheartening it must be when we know something is wrong and someone tells us it is "all in our head," or worse.  When I consider the whole person, I find that healing is a process.  Even when we are healed from physical or mental illness "immediately," we often still cope with the multifaceted aspects of emotional, spiritual, physical and communal changes. 

Today's passage is in contrast to most healing passages as the text hints at a process which begins with Jesus' intention but is completed with time.  Take a moment to begin with a "Breath Prayer"

Breathing in ... Come, Healing Jesus 
Breathing out ... Heal the world with signs and wonders
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:   Healing Jesus, shine light from within the text and shimmer in my heart with wisdom and grace.  Help me find signs and wonders in the most simple things of life.  Amen.

1.  Lectio/Read:   John 4:46-53 (NET) As you read, perhaps there is a word or phrase that will draw you to it.  Pay attention. Turn the word or phrase over and over in your mind.  Simply sit with your word or phrase and be grateful.  

signs and wonders ... signs and wonders ... signs and wonders ... 

Now [Jesus] came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe!” “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my child dies.”  Jesus told him, “Go home; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and set off for home.  While he was on his way down, his slaves met him and told him that his son was going to live. So he asked them the time when his condition began to improve, and they told him, “Yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon the fever left him.” Then the father realized that it was the very time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he himself believed along with his entire household.

2.  Meditatio/Meditation

Read the text a second time.  You may find that the same word has energy for you, but you may also find that another word has become more alive with meaning.  Pay attention.  Take your word and write freely, in your journal or on your computer.  Don't think about what you are writing as you let God lead you deeper.

signs and wonders ... help people believe ... is that bad?  signs and wonders ... but not all at once ... is that a rebuke?  signs and wonders ... few and far between and simple but yes, we still get them ... do I need them in order to believe?  signs and wonders ... I want them ... come Healing Jesus!

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 the depth of belief God is calling you to? Take a moment to write again in your journal or on your computer as a prayer in response to what you have heard.   

Healing Jesus, for some reason as I think of signs and wonders, I think of simple things.  Yes, healing is a mystery, it is not simplistic but at the same time I find deep signs and wonders in the simple things of life.  I think of the time when I was devastated by the news of my niece's impending death from cancer.  It was the simplicity of a tiny acorn and the simple words of Julian of Norwich, "in this is all that is" that comforted me and opened me to God's presence as I made that journey into her passing.  Every day simple things are signs and wonders of your presence, your grace, your love.  I've seen the simple act of love heal the most emotionally devastating wounds.  Love in telling the story of life, love in listening, love in smiling, love in gentle words and touch, love in an acorn ... love, love, love.  And yet it is still a process.  It is as if love has to seep into a person from all the tiny cracks and openings until suddenly a dam bursts within.  That is the way I have experienced your healing on my soul.  Often as I journey with people in the healing process after surgery or accident or illness ... the slowing that comes reveals your presence in surprising ways.  And yet, there are so many others that have not yet begun to see the signs and wonders of your love, they are drowning in their illness without a vision of life in its fullness.  They have not yet begun to see signs and wonders and they are lost.  They need the signs and wonders of your deep, deep love to believe you are real, to believe they can be healed.  Lord, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy!

The mystic Julian of Norwich, holding an acorn in her hand said of it, “In this is all that is.”

 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 ... Come, Healing Jesus 
Breathing out ... Show me the signs and wonders of life
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 as a loving and healing presence to others.

Close with a prayer to send yourself into the world, use this one or pray what emerges from within you:  Healing Jesus, yes.  I do need signs and wonders, but they need not be big.  Help me to see the simple signs and wonders of life.  Help me to rejoice each day in simplicity.  Amen.

Jesus the Healer: Be Opened!

Christ healed because it was God’s will; he healed because of his compassion; he healed to fulfill prophecy; he healed to confirm his Messiahship and his power to forgive sins; he healed to give glory to God; he healed to bring people to believe in him as Lord; and he healed in response to faith … ~ Jim Glennon

Quite simply ... Jesus healed!

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 deep prayer with scripture as we explore 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.

Before you begin your study today, consider how much you use your ability to hear and to speak.  Write your thoughts if they seem to flow.  I know that for me, silence is golden because there is so much noise in my world but what if I could never hear anything ... the birds singing, a child's voice calling me, sirens alerting me to danger, a knock on the door, raindrops gently dropping on my roof ... what sounds would you miss the most?   What if I could never tell someone that I loved them or voice my concerns over a disturbing article in the newspaper?  What if I never heard my own voice and so was too ashamed to speak, like ever?

Rest for as long as you can in the context of the deaf and mute man who was in need of healing in our story this week.   Then, center yourself with a gentle "Breath Prayer."  Use this one or allow one to emerge just for you:

Breathing in ... Healing Jesus
Breathing out ...Open my ears
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:  As I meditate on the Word of Life, Healing Jesus, open my eyes so that I might see you healing the world today, open my ears so that I might hear your voice calling me through the text, open my heart so that I might be filled with your healing touch.  Fill me with your Spirit so that I might speak of your peace and work for justice in the world. Amen.  

Engage in Lectio Divina, which means "divine reading" in 4 movements ...

1.  Lectio/Read:   Mark 7:31-35 (NET)  As you read, perhaps there is a word or phrase that will shimmer off the page right into your heart.  Pay attention to how God is coming to you through the text. Repeat your word or phrase in your mind until it is committed to memory.  Simply sit with your word or phrase and be grateful for all five of your senses. 

Then Jesus went out again from the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking, and they asked him to place his hands on him. After Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, he put his fingers in the man’s ears, and after spitting, he touched his tongue. Then he looked up to heaven and said with a sigh, “Ephphatha” (that is, “Be opened”). And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue loosened, and he spoke plainly. 

Jesus heals a mute possessed man, public domain, Source: Brooklyn Museum 1886-1894

2.  Meditatio/Meditation:  Read the text a second time.  Have you found yourself attracted to the same word or phrase or a different one on this reading.  Pay attention to how God is coming to you!  Can you hear the voice of God in your soul?  Or do you feel like the deaf man, unable to hear, unable to speak.  Take your word and write freely, in your journal or on your computer.  Don't think about what you are writing as you let God lead you deeper, just write!

3. Oratio/Pray 

Read the text a third time.  Then read your own writing if you have written anything thus far.  Are there any connections you can make between what you read and the writing that flowed from your reading?  Are there any connections between what you read and the life you are living?  How do you respond as you consider how God is coming to you through this text?  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 as you drift into stillness.  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. 

Allow your experience of praying with scripture 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.  Close with a prayer to send yourself into the world, use this one or pray what emerges from within you:  Healing Jesus, O how I want to be with you as you offer healing grace to the world.  I want to hear and see and speak about you and about the way God loves us through you.  Send your Spirit to lead me into the world to speak the words that you give me to speak!  Amen.