8/27/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
I have no idea how many times I’ve heard this. I lost count, pretty quickly. It’s the spiritual life and spiritual meaning that matters. Christianity is about faith, nothing to do with the body.
Sorry, that’s actually more closely related to Gnosticism than to Christianity. But we want to get practical, right? In Mark 7:31-37 it would leave the deaf man with a speech problem out to dry.
Jesus could certainly have communicated to the person somehow that he loves him and is his redeemer. Jesus could have gotten the idea across that he didn’t need to worry about earthly things and that if he believes on Jesus all will be well. And in reality, that is an accurate message.
Jesus doesn’t stop with that. He knows that the man’s body will be raised in the last day and will be a glorified body with no faults. But wouldn’t it be nice if he could hear the voices of his family and friends? What about being able to speak clearly and hear the answer? These are not matters of indifference to Jesus. He cares about the physical.
What else do we see? To those who look only to spiritual and symbolic means of healing, let’s notice that Jesus sticks his fingers in the man’s ears. In other instances of healing, Jesus lays his hands on people, anoints their eyes with mud, and probably does a few things I am forgetting at the moment. He uses physical means as he does his work.
Granted, the power is in the promise of God through Jesus, not in the physical means he uses to accompany it. But God is not afraid to have physical elements involved in his works of mercy and grace.
Jesus shows his love for this man, body and soul, and is willing to touch him and heal him. He hasn’t changed in that regard, but nowadays he uses other people’s hands to touch and serve people. He remains faithful.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
I have no idea how many times I’ve heard this. I lost count, pretty quickly. It’s the spiritual life and spiritual meaning that matters. Christianity is about faith, nothing to do with the body.
Sorry, that’s actually more closely related to Gnosticism than to Christianity. But we want to get practical, right? In Mark 7:31-37 it would leave the deaf man with a speech problem out to dry.
Jesus could certainly have communicated to the person somehow that he loves him and is his redeemer. Jesus could have gotten the idea across that he didn’t need to worry about earthly things and that if he believes on Jesus all will be well. And in reality, that is an accurate message.
Jesus doesn’t stop with that. He knows that the man’s body will be raised in the last day and will be a glorified body with no faults. But wouldn’t it be nice if he could hear the voices of his family and friends? What about being able to speak clearly and hear the answer? These are not matters of indifference to Jesus. He cares about the physical.
What else do we see? To those who look only to spiritual and symbolic means of healing, let’s notice that Jesus sticks his fingers in the man’s ears. In other instances of healing, Jesus lays his hands on people, anoints their eyes with mud, and probably does a few things I am forgetting at the moment. He uses physical means as he does his work.
Granted, the power is in the promise of God through Jesus, not in the physical means he uses to accompany it. But God is not afraid to have physical elements involved in his works of mercy and grace.
Jesus shows his love for this man, body and soul, and is willing to touch him and heal him. He hasn’t changed in that regard, but nowadays he uses other people’s hands to touch and serve people. He remains faithful.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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