Tag: healing

A Controversial Christ (Mark 2:23-3:6)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Wheatfield with Crows, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus. (New Living Translation)

Jesus Heals the Man with the Withered Hand, by Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, 1684

I am continually amazed whenever good people are surprised by being embroiled in the muck of human controversy. Since we live in a profoundly fallen world, good is often going to buck up against the bad. Besides, Jesus often found himself in a controversy of some kind; and we are not above our Lord.

There are two distinct yet similar controversies in today’s lesson; and they highlight why there were some folk who were all upset about the way Jesus went about things. Such people eventually came to the dark decision that Jesus needed to go away, permanently.

Much of the controversy between Jesus and the religious leaders came down to particular views of God’s law; and, of course, whose view was going to win out over the other. It ended up becoming what almost all controversies are about: Deciding who is really in power and calls the shots.

The Politics of Hunger

It was a Sabbath day. Jesus and his disciples were walking through the fields. And they were hungry. So the disciples took some grain, broke off the heads, and ate them. To any non-Jewish person, there’s no problem here. But the Pharisees were concerned.

First, they observed the disciples walking through grain fields. The Pharisees thought they should be staying put on the Sabbath. Second, and perhaps more significantly, the religious leaders saw Christ’s disciples gleaning – which was working on the Sabbath. To them, any respectable Jew prepared their food the day before. This is a lack of holiness, of not taking the Sabbath seriously. And this was completely unacceptable to the Pharisees.

Wheat Field and Cypress by Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

Jesus, however, viewed walking through the fields differently. He did not consider the Sabbath as trivial; Jesus instead stood back and took a big picture perspective of it all. And that view included the ancient story of David, who took the consecrated bread in the tabernacle which was reserved only for Levite priests. (1 Samuel 21:1-6; Leviticus 24:8-9)

The reason David wanted the bread was because he was a fugitive, on the run from King Saul who was trying to take his life. Jesus insisted, on that day, the priest on duty did nothing wrong in giving the special bread to David. Yes, the strict letter of the law was broken; and, no, this was not wrong – because the priest was helping to save a life, and a very important one at that.

Jesus discerned there are times when particular laws come into conflict; so it’s necessary to maintain the spirit of a law in order to maintain a high value and meet a pressing human need. In a sense, Jesus gave a covenant code legal opinion on the subject.

It’s no surprise, to any reader of the New Testament Gospels, that Christ would behave this way; and that it would drive the religious leaders bananas. After all, they, the Pharisees, upheld law and rendered legal decisions – not this upstart wannabe. Jesus took an authoritative stance on what was happening, and the leaders did not at all like their own authority questioned.

This wasn’t some maverick interpretation by Jesus. He simply pointed out that the Sabbath is a gift, given to people to promote life and health – and not a burden that folks are to carry. Any decent Sabbath-keeper knew this.

It appears the leaders didn’t like being reminded of it from Jesus. What’s more, Jesus was much too close to likening himself to David. Yet another reason to despise this uppity teacher.

The Legality of Suffering

A second controversy brought the issue of who is in charge and who gets to arbitrate community values into a greater light. There is perhaps no other place for that conflict to happen than in the synagogue, the meeting place of worshipers. The juiciest things always seem to happen in a place of worship.

In the first story, the religious leaders were caught surprised over the behavior of Jesus and his disciples. They’re determined not to make that mistake again. From this point forward, it seems the Pharisees are continually waiting for a chance to put down Jesus as a lawbreaker and rabblerouser.

Byzantine mosaic of Christ healing the man with a withered hand, Cathedral of Monreale, Palermo, Sicily

For them, the issue wasn’t about the ability to heal, but whether it’s being done on the Sabbath. Much like the grainfield incident, healing is work, and working on the Sabbath is a direct violation of God’s immutable law. The religious leaders wanted to prove that Jesus has no regard for God’s will.

Law, for many Pharisees in Christ’s day, was meant to bring order so that chaos does not rule. Obedience to the law is a pre-condition for blessing. Without a clear demonstration of holy living, the community could be under a curse, much like their ancestors before them who were exiled for disregarding God’s law.

Yet again, Jesus cut through the anxious fear and authoritative posturing and went directly to the intended spirit of the law. The Sabbath, of all days in the week, ought to be a time for doing good, not harm; and to save life, not kill it. Jesus was not doing anything that could be considered work, anymore than his disciples were actually gleaning or harvesting grain.

There is no better day than the Sabbath for restoring a man’s withered and malformed hand, for giving him back his ability to make a living and contribute to the community. Much more was restored to the man than a physical ability; he now had the ability to better his life and his family, not to mention the local economy. It ought to be all good…

Unfortunately, the Pharisees didn’t see it that way, that the man gained his dignity back, his wholeness and his joy. They could only see a threat to their own hegemony.

The Beginning of the End

So, this marks the beginning of the end. The leaders are so upset and angry, they began plotting for Christ’s destruction. Unlikely political allies came together because of a common enemy. To view Jesus as a threat to society is, at the least, messed up. But that’s what happens when people cannot see beyond the end of their nose. They make bad choices.

Even though Jesus came to give life, others want to take his. Despite the fact that Jesus did not reject the law or demean the Sabbath, people with a short-sighted agenda and hard hearts could only see someone upsetting the status quo.

Today, these same things can quickly turn to hostility. The legal implications of one’s values and commitments can get nasty fast. Opinions can harden, resulting in oppression, persecution, and even death.

The most noble of motives can go sour; and the best of intentions, the highly educated, and the most gifted persons among us can become despotic in their leadership. Indeed, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

This is why the gracious and benevolent kingdom of God will win the day. Hard-hearted people become desperately out of touch with what is most important; they are calloused to the human need in front of their faces. I believe that the words and ways of Jesus can dispel those dark forces and impulses.

I’ll take a controversial Christ any day because that is the path to life abundant and everlasting.

Whenever unjust, oppressive, harmful, and fearful systems hold on, the ministry of Jesus exposes them for what they are, and will deliver us from evil.

Thanks be to God!

Persecuted (Acts 8:1b-8)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
A scene from the movie, “Paul, Apostle of Christ,” in which Saul sought to wipe out Christians beginning with the stoning of Stephen

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city. (New International Version)

Just because Christians experience the blessing of God through new life in Christ, does not mean that the rest of this earthly life will be bunnies and unicorns without any hardship.

Sometimes we forget that rabbits and horses produce manure, and we’ll have to muck out the barn. And even more than that, blessings from God are not limited to an abundance of earthly resources; blessing also comes through suffering. Jesus said:

“Great blessings belong to those who suffer persecution for doing what is right. God’s kingdom belongs to them.

“People will insult you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do that, know that great blessings belong to you. 

“Be happy about it. Be very glad because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did these same bad things to the prophets who lived before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12, ERV)

Saul was an up and coming Jewish Pharisee. He was intelligent, driven, and pious. Saul had the pedigree, passion, and position to go a long way and make a big splash in Judaism. And he was more than ready to do whatever it took to stamp out a heretical and dangerous sect of Jesus followers – even to the point of giving approval to the stoning of the Christian Stephen; and leading a persecution against believers like him.

Jesus not only promised abundant and eternal life to his followers, but he also promised that the cost of Christian discipleship would be persecution. Believers in Jesus Christ can expect to suffer in this life for their faithful commitment. Yet, because Christ overcame the world, we too, can accept, cope, and transcend any persecution and trouble we face in our embrace of faith. Jesus said:

“The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!” (John 16:33b, GNT)

Even though the unity the believers enjoyed together in Jerusalem was disrupted and destroyed by the leadership of Saul, God bent the adverse situation toward blessing. Christians were flung all over the known world. In their going, they obeyed the words of their Lord Jesus to proclaim the message they so wholeheartedly embraced.

When Jesus came near, he spoke to them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you.

“And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.” (Matthew 28:18-20, GW)

The ancient prophesies were becoming realized. Grace, mercy, and peace were overcoming bitterness, judgment, and enmity toward one another. Even though persecution was happening, there was now a very different response to it, which will lead to a new outcome. In the last days…

The Lord will mediate between nations
    and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
    nor train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4, NLT)

Suffering can be tolerated, even embraced, whenever we are aware that it can lead us to peace and joy – both personally and communally. Instead of evil taking root amongst a people, good seeds can be planted in the heart of humanity. And when those seeds are watered and nurtured, they grow to become a blessing for the world.

Finally, Jesus said, “What is God’s kingdom like? What story can I use to explain it? It is like what happens when a mustard seed is planted in the ground. It is the smallest seed in all the world. But once it is planted, it grows larger than any garden plant. It even puts out branches that are big enough for birds to nest in its shade.” (Mark 4:30-32, CEV)

Spiritual growth is built into Christianity. The faith formation and development of both individual believers and churches is important. Without it, Christians devolve into cliques of special interest groups.

But with it, Christianity becomes a blessing to the world, that is, if believers focus on producing and harvesting the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Whenever and wherever believers and followers of Jesus are spiritually growing in their faith, they become like exorcists who organically purge unhealthy institutional systems of their moral corruption, selfishness, idolatry, hate, in-fighting, obsessions, bitterness, rage, competitive oppositions, conflict, and polarizing group rivalries. (Galatians 5:19-21)

Christianity is meant to bring joy and healing of both body and soul. If it doesn’t do this, then it has become just another unjust and unhealthy organization that is in need of purging its impurities; and embracing its mandate to uphold the common good of all persons through proclamation of good news and committed to a lifestyle of loving one another as Christ has loved us.

For people pay attention to that which is right, just, and good – because righteousness, justice, and goodness are in everyone’s spiritual DNA.

Almighty and gracious God of all:
Remember Christ, your Son, who is peace itself,
and who has washed away our hatred with his blood.
Because you love all men and women everywhere,
look with mercy on all who are engaged in battles of the flesh and the spirit.
Banish the violence and evil within all combatants of both body and soul
so that one day, we may all deserve to be called your sons and your daughters.
Grant this through Christ our Lord, in the enablement of the Spirit. Amen.

Spiritual Sight and Power (Acts 3:1-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Peter and John heal the crippled man, by Gustave Doré (1832-1883)

Peter and John were going to the temple courtyard for the three o’clock prayer. At the same time, a man who had been lame from birth was being carried by some men. Every day these men would put the lame man at a gate in the temple courtyard. The gate was called Beautiful Gate. There he would beg for handouts from people going into the courtyard. When the man saw that Peter and John were about to go into the courtyard, he asked them for a handout.

Peter and John stared at him. “Look at us!” Peter said. So the man watched them closely. He expected to receive something from them. However, Peter said to him, “I don’t have any money, but I’ll give you what I do have. Through the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, walk!” Peter took hold of the man’s right hand and began to help him up. Immediately, the man’s feet and ankles became strong. Springing to his feet, he stood up and started to walk. He went with Peter and John into the temple courtyard. The man was walking, jumping, and praising God.

All the people saw him walking and praising God. They knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the temple’s Beautiful Gate. The people were amazed and stunned to see what had happened to him. (God’s Word Translation)

Peter and John at the gate of the temple, by Rembrandt

Money isn’t everything; and neither is having a lot of talent or giftedness. Yet, we often live our lives as if we cannot do much because of our lack of personal abilities and financial resources. But we can. All we need to do is give something that we all have to give.

Peter and John were disciples of Jesus. Though Jesus has ascended to heaven and the gift of the Spirit has come, they still maintained a daily rhythm of prayer three times a day at the temple.

As the two of them were about to attend afternoon prayer, they encountered a man at the gate. We are told that this particular guy was crippled. He came every day to the temple in order to beg. What is interesting to me is that this surely was not the first time Peter and John encountered the guy who begged at the gate.

Did they just ignore him? Was he one of many? Whatever the reason, they never put their eyes to him before. But on this occasion they did. In fact, they fixed their gaze on him and really took the time to stop and look at him.

I remember when my late brother-in-law had a complete turn around of his life to Jesus. At the time, he walked to work every day in the city. And every day there was a beggar on the corner. Most every day he had ignored him. One day he even spit on him.

The day after his great awakening to the Lord, he was walking to work and saw the beggar. But this time he really saw him. And when he looked into the man’s eyes, he had pity upon him. My brother-in-law – who took his lunch with him each day – surrendered it to the beggar. Eventually, he began a practice of bringing enough food for two, sitting down with the man, and talking with him as they ate together.

Perhaps for the first time, these disciples of Jesus, Peter and John, see the man who was there every day at the temple. They have not a thing with them. No money. No lunch. But they had something better: the power of grace and love.

In our contemporary Western society, we prefer things to be efficient and simple. Giving money, preferably online and dispassionately, is ideal for us. This way, we can give without any strings attached while feeling good about ourselves.

Yet, my brother-in-law and Peter and John decided to give the gift of connection. And that meeting of the eyes was the conduit for spiritual power to flow from one person to another. Doing what they saw Jesus do, the disciples gave the man who could not walk his legs back.

As a result, the guy was no longer lame nor a beggar. He became a fellow witness of God’s mercy and power. He went right up into the temple with Peter and John – walking and jumping and praising God.

It is not really money that gets things done. And it’s not our ingenuity or intelligence that really makes things happens. Throughout the book of Acts, demonstrations of God’s mighty power in the name of Jesus Christ is paramount. And those with alternative sources of power are shown to be powerless when it comes to life transformation.

In all of human history, including today, people like power; and power attracts wealth, as well as wealth attracting power. But the power of Christ’s resurrection is completely disconnected from worldly wealth. And it is never used for personal gain or popularity. And what’s more, this sort of power is available to every Christian – and not just a special class of super-Christians or clergy persons.

If we trace apostolic work in the New Testament, we shall find that the people with such spiritual power received it not because of extraordinary faith or exceptional virtue; instead, the Spirit grants us the ability to make a difference in this world by granting us the gift of sight – to truly see another as the precious image bearer of God that they are.

There are people right in front of us every day that we might not see. If we are wondering how to tap into the spiritual power of resurrection, we have no further to look than observing and gazing upon the folks within our eyesight, so that we can see them in new and redemptive ways.

Holy Lord, you gave us something more powerful and more valuable than riches; you have given us healing and hope. Please bring that healing and hope into our world and show us evidence of your presence in our lives. Amen.

The Irony of Christ’s Followers (Mark 10:32-34, 46-52)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
A 10th century depiction of Christ healing a blind man

The disciples were confused as Jesus led them toward Jerusalem, and his other followers were afraid. Once again, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside and told them what was going to happen to him. He said:

We are now on our way to Jerusalem where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses. They will sentence him to death and hand him over to foreigners, who will make fun of him and spit on him. They will beat him and kill him. But three days later he will rise to life….

Jesus and his disciples went to Jericho. And as they were leaving, they were followed by a large crowd. A blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting beside the road. When he heard that it was Jesus from Nazareth, he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” Many people told the man to stop, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him over!”

They called out to the blind man and said, “Don’t be afraid! Come on! He is calling for you.” The man threw off his coat as he jumped up and ran to Jesus.

Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man answered, “Master, I want to see!”

Jesus told him, “You may go. Your eyes are healed because of your faith.”

At once the man could see, and he went down the road with Jesus. (Contemporary English Version)

“Irony” and “ironic” are terms describing when an outcome of an event is contrary or different from what would be expected.

Here are a few examples of irony: The firehouse burnt down. The police officer got arrested. When I was a kid, my family physician’s name was Dr. Fail (really!). There is an overarching ironic lesson to our Gospel story today:

The people following Jesus with 20/20 vision were spiritually blind.

Their great need is the same as blind Bartimaeus: To have their eyes opened to Jesus and to what God was doing around them. Bartimaeus was marvelously and miraculously given sight by Jesus – the others, however, remained unchanged and in the dark. 

Irony #1: Many followed Jesus, but only a few were his followers.

All kinds of people physically followed Jesus around for various reasons while he was here on this earth. Some wanted to bask in the latest celebrity buzz that Jesus generated. Others wanted to see the cool stuff Jesus did, like healing people. Some were plain curious. And a few were interested in being like Jesus by showing selfless compassion.

Jesus continually sought to press the crowd following him into spiritual seekers who would learn to follow his teaching.

Many people conform to the group and go with the flow. That’s great if the crowd is good, and not so good if they’re going in a bad direction.

In the Old Testament, a few unruly complainers got the Israelites stirred up. The result was making a golden calf and turning away from God. Sometimes it is right and necessary to go against the crowd.

Irony #2: Out of all Christ’s followers, it is a blind man that sees Jesus for who he is: The Son of David.

Bartimaeus discerned it was Messiah who was walking by him. So, he went against the crowd and shouted to Jesus. Blind Bartimaeus didn’t care how he looked to others; it didn’t matter to him that he stuck out like a sore thumb to all the spiritually blind people.

Jesus often avoided crowds. Most of his earthly life occurred away from the centers of power and influence. Jesus swam upstream of the prevailing notions of righteousness. Christ did not cow-tow to the crowd. Instead, he paid attention to the needy and forgotten.

Christ Giving Sight to Bartimaeus, by William Blake (1757-1827)

And while in a large group of people, Jesus did not “work the crowd” to get ahead and further his agenda. He did not cozy-up to the rich and powerful. And Christ deliberately avoided celebrity status. Jesus showed extraordinary love to an overlooked person. He used his immense power for one powerless person.

Irony #3: The ones following Jesus were the ones trying to keep a blind man from Jesus.

One irony of the church is that Christ’s own followers can be the biggest obstacle to others following him.

I can just imagine a group of gossipy church folk shushing Bartimaeus: “Don’t bother Jesus, he is such a busy man! He has important work to do!” I can also picture them standing next to blind Bartimaeus saying, “Just stop, man, you’re embarrassing yourself.” 

But Bartimaeus would not stop. He shouted all the louder. That’s because true and genuine faith is a needy person crying out in desperation for Jesus to help.

Jesus asked a beautiful question: “What do you want me to do for you?”

“I want to see,” Bartimaeus responded. So, Jesus had compassion on him, and gave him his sight. Here we have two men, Jesus and Bartimaeus, ignoring all the people around them, and having a divine encounter.

This encounter raises my curiosity as to why it is so hard for us to simply say what we want.

It could be that we don’t want to buck the crowd, or to look different. Maybe we don’t want to admit our need in front of others. So, we simply stick to superficial conversations and insist that everything is okay, when it isn’t.

Jesus said, concerning the crowd, “Although they see, they don’t really see.” (Matthew 13:13)

If we are concerned about how we are seen by others, we will not be seen by God; we will miss Jesus when he walks by, right in front of us.

Conclusion

How might we raise our ability to see Jesus and truly follow him as he desires us to?

Listen to Jesus

Jesus was headed to Jerusalem and had a lot on his mind and heart with anticipating his passion and death. Christ became attentive to Bartimaeus, out of all the people around him, because he was listening.

If we want to see Jesus and follow him, we must be listeners,  and be attentive to compassion, like Jesus, to the needy and lowly among us. 

I recently read a story from a Christian who lived during Nazi Germany. He said:

“I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because what could anyone do to stop it? A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks.

“We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars! Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear those wheels because we knew we would hear the cries of the Jews in route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us.

“So, when we heard the whistle blow, we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church, we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly, and soon we heard them no more.

“Years have passed, and no one talks about it anymore. But I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. God forgive me. Forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians yet did nothing to intervene.” 

Respond to Jesus

Once Jesus listened, he responded by asking a question. Christ took the time to heal Bartimaeus.

Jesus could have simply healed him without even stopping. He could have started a healing factory where everyone with a need just moved through a line and got healed. But Jesus was doing more than giving sight; he was giving a blessing – the blessing of time and relationship.

The gospel is personal, which is why we ought to resist being non-relational in ministry to others.

Christian ministry is about blessing other people with the gift of relationship. It begins with recognizing self as the one who needs Jesus; and it starts with having our own eyes opened to see our own need, and then the great need of people around us.

God of all compassion, I confess that it is natural for me to do things my way. I recognize that I am limited, but that you know all things. I yield my spiritual eyesight to you so that my spiritual vision will be clear. Jesus Christ came to give sight to the blind and to open our eyes. I commit my ways to you so that I can see your ways and not just my own. Amen.