Healing

            In Jesus’ day, as now, the work of healing and health was essential. Jesus heals people in 13 episodes in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 4:31-37, Luke 4:38-44, Luke 5:12-16, Luke 5:17-26, Luke 7:11-17, Luke 7:21, Luke 7:36-50, Luke 8:26-39, Luke 8:40-56, Luke 9:37-45, Luke 13:10-17, Luke 17:11-19 and Luke 18:35-43. By doing so, he brings wellness to suffering people, as he announced he would do when he took on the mantle of king. In addition, the healings are actualizations of the kingdom of God, in which there will ultimately be no sickness (Revelation 21:4). God does not merely command people to work for others’ benefit, he empowers people to work for others’ benefit. God’s power is not restricted to Jesus himself, for in two passages, Jesus empowers his followers to heal people (Luke 9:1-6, 10:9). Yet all the healings depend on God’s power. Theologian Jürgen Moltmann sums this up beautifully: “Jesus’ healings are not supernatural miracles in a natural world. They are the only truly ‘natural’ thing in a world that is unnatural, demonized, and wounded.”[4]They are a tangible sign that God is putting the world back to rights.

            The healings reported in the gospels are generally miraculous. But Christians’ non-miraculous efforts to restore human bodies can justly be seen as a viable extension of Jesus’ life-giving ministry. It would be a mistake not to notice how important healing is to the redemptive work of God’s kingdom. This work is performed daily by including doctors, nurses, technologists, claims processors, hospital parking lot attendants and the myriad of others whose work make healing possible. Luke himself was a physician (Colossians 4:14), and we can imagine his particular interest in healing. However, it would be a mistake to infer that the healing professions are inherently higher callings than other professions.